Microgravity Research Program Annual Report 1999

NASA’S MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH PROGRAM

ANNUAL REPORT

NASA/TM – 2000-210615

National Aeronautics and Space Administration George C. Marshall Space Flight Center Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama 35812 On the front cover...

In FY 99, the microgravity biotechnology program investigated the structure of macromolecules through Earth- and space-grown crystals and conducted experiments in tissue engineering and basic cellular functions both in ground laboratories and in orbit. These cells were isolated from cartilage grown on Russian Space Station Mir. Gray areas (green on cover) indicate the presence of estaserase, a key metabolic enzyme.

Discovering how processing affects the structure and properties of materials is the focus of the materials science discipline. A microgravity environment allows a simpler view of the relationship of processing to structure. Several experiments have been conducted and are planned for investigating the formation of dendrites, a common microstructure in metals. This dendrite of pivalic acid was formed during a microgravity shuttle mission.

The study of combustion science in microgravity contributes to the basic understanding of the combustion process and of how to prevent and control burning on Earth and in space. This photo was taken during an experiment on candle flames that took place on Mir.

Fluid physicists participate in the microgravity program to understand the fundamentals of fluid behavior under various conditions. Microgravity experiments investigating liquid drops have contributed to our knowledge of microscopic and macroscopic processes, from the way atomic nuclei undergo fission to how planets are formed. This photo was taken during a drop experiment conducted on the space shuttle.

Physicists use a microgravity environment to help them discover and understand the laws governing our universe. Accurate clocks are important research tools in such experiments. Physicists in the microgravity program are developing a clock to be flown on the International Space Station that will be the most accurate clock to date and will be available to everyone as a research tool. An artist’s rendering of this clock is pictured here. Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary...... 1 2 Introduction ...... 5 3 Microgravity Research Conducted in FY 1999 . . . 8 Biotechnology ...... 8 Combustion Science ...... 18 Fluid Physics ...... 24 Fundamental Physics ...... 34 Materials Science...... 40 4 Acceleration Measurement ...... 48 5 Technology ...... 51 6 Hardware ...... 53 7 Outreach and Education ...... 63 8 For More Information ...... 68 9 Program Resources ...... 69 10 Acronyms and Abbreviations ...... 70

iii On the back cover...

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1 Thermocapillary flow induced by a bubble on Earth is greatly 3 In an atom laser on the ground, atoms fall under the influence influenced by its inevitable interactions with buoyancy-driven con- of gravity, producing a nonlinear dispersion of matter waves (top). vection. These pictures show steady-state flow fields generated by An artist’s concept of an atom laser in space (bottom) shows that an air bubble in a surrounding fluid (silicone oil) in normal gravity coherent matter waves propagate free from gravity’s perturbation. (top) and microgravity (bottom). 4 Many materials are available only as a powder. To achieve high 2 Due to a reduction in buoyancy-induced flows, flames in density in components shaped from these materials a process microgravity experience a change in the onset of soot release and a known as liquid-phase sintering is often used. However, when the change in flame shape when compared to flames in normal gravity. liquid forms, the component can distort under its own weight (top The top series of images shows onset of soot release occurring in the photo). The same type of compact when sintered in microgravity annular shell at the flame tip (3rd flame from right). The middle generally attains a spherical shape (bottom). series of low-velocity microgravity flames shows that the onset of soot release occurs in the annular layer, but that the flame shape is Some genes respond to microgravity as evidenced by this flat before the onset (4th flame from right). The bottom series of 5 graph of spaceflight experiment results, which shows that of 10,000 high-velocity microgravity flames shows that the onset of soot genes expressed by human kidney cells, 1,600 genes changed their release occurs at the center of the flame (third flame from left). expression levels when in microgravity. (Shear stress and heat shock proteins are shown as green dots, transcription factors as red dots. A change in expression is denoted by movement along the x and y axes.) v Executive Summary 1

To use the microgravity environment of space as a tool to physics, fundamental physics, and materials science) and work advance knowledge; to use space as a laboratory to explore the nature conducted on behalf of the MRP’s acceleration measurement, of physical phenomena, contributing to progress in science and tech- glovebox, and technology programs are managed by the MRPO and implemented at the following NASA centers: the Jet nology on Earth; and to study the role of gravity in technological Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which manages processes, building a scientific foundation for understanding the con- investigations in fundamental physics and is responsible for sequences of gravitational environments beyond Earth’s boundaries. microgravity technology development and transfer activities; — From the Microgravity Research Program’s Mission Statement Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, which manages the cellular biotechnology discipline; Glenn Research Center in Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), located in Huntsville, Cleveland, Ohio, which manages studies in the combustion science Alabama, serves as NASA’s lead center for the Microgravity and fluid physics disciplines as well as microgravity measurement Research Program (MRP). To support that work, MSFC’s and analysis support services for all the microgravity science Microgravity Research Program Office (MRPO) is responsible for disciplines; and MSFC, which, in addition to serving as NASA’s advancing the microgravity mission through the coordination of lead center for the MRP, manages research in the macromolecular microgravity science research at NASA field centers, at universities, biotechnology and materials science disciplines and is responsible and with industry partners. Basic and applied research in the five for the microgravity glovebox program. The MRP’s program microgravity disciplines (biotechnology, combustion science, fluid goals for fiscal year (FY) 1999 follow:

Goal 1 Goal 4

Sustain a leading-edge research program Promote the exchange of scientific knowledge focused in the areas of biotechnology, combustion and technological advances among academic, science, fluid physics, fundamental physics, and governmental, and industrial communities. materials science that effectively engages the Disseminate results to the general public and to national research community. educational institutions. Goal 2 Goal 5

Foster an interdisciplinary community to promote Raise the awareness of the microgravity research synergy, creativity, and value in carrying out the community regarding the long-term direction of research program. NASA’s Human Exploration and Development of Space Enterprise, and discuss with the community Goal 3 the role of microgravity research in support of Enable research through the development of an agency objectives. appropriate infrastructure of ground-based facilities, diagnostic capabilities, and flight facilities/opportunities, and promote the use of smaller apparatus.

1 Performance Goals support the MRP mission to use the microgravity environment of space as a tool to advance knowledge; to use space as a laboratory to While the five program goals listed above are qualitative and explore the nature of physical phenomena, contributing to progress program-oriented, the MRP has also developed a set of performance in science and technology on Earth; and to study the role of gravity goals that describe specific activities, methods for implementation, in technological processes, building a scientific foundation for and planned outcomes. In addition to guiding the progress of the understanding the consequences of gravitational environments program, these goals will also serve as measuring sticks, allowing beyond Earth’s boundaries. quantitative evaluation of the program. The performance goals were The MRP performance goals were finalized in FY 1998 in developed in response to the general call to reinvent government fulfillment of Congress’ mandate and were used in FY 1999 to and the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, which assess the program’s progress. The MRP performance goals and an directs agencies within the executive branch to develop customer- update on progress in FY 1999 are listed in Table 1. Further focused strategic plans that align their activities with concrete mission information on projects supporting each goal is available online at: and goal statements. Performance goals have been developed that http://microgravity.hq.nasa.gov/research.htm.

Table 1 MRP Performance Goals and Progress in FY 1999

Goal Progress in FY 1999 1.21 — Sustain a leading biotechnology research program that will assure continued 103 biotechnology investigations were supported scientific and technical leadership. in FY 1999.

1.22 — Enable increased combustion system efficiency, reduced pollution, and mitiga- 72 combustion science investigations were supported tion of fire risks through insights and databases obtainable only through in FY 1999. microgravity experiments.

1.23 — Pursue groundbreaking basic research in fluid physics and transport phenomena 86 fluid physics investigations were supported in to provide fundamental understanding of natural phenomena affected by FY 1999. gravity for increased efficiency and effectiveness of space-based and industrial processes.

1.24 — Unlock mysteries of the universe by exploring the frontiers of physics 49 fundamental physics investigations were obscured by Earth’s gravity, using laboratories in space. supported in FY 1999.

1.25 — Use microgravity to establish and improve quantitative and predictive relationships 105 materials science investigations were supported between the structure, processing, and properties of materials. in FY 1999.

1.9 — Successfully test a fundamental tenet of general relativity by completing an 1 fundamental physics investigation was supported internationally funded Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle project by 2005. in FY 1999.

2.2 — Identify materials processing issues and propose/test processing strategies to 2 investigations were supported in FY 1999. enable human operations on the surface of the Moon/Mars using In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) concepts.

2 2.4 — Develop methods, databases, and validating tests for material flammability 8 investigations were supported in FY 1999. characterization, hazard reduction, and fire detection/suppression strategies for spacecraft and extraterrestrial habitats.

2.5 — Advance the state of knowledge sufficiently to enable dust-control technologies 8 investigations were supported in FY 1999. and bulk materials handling for extraterrestrial habitats and/or ISRU.

2.6 — Advance the state of knowledge sufficiently to allow development of reliable 19 investigations were supported in FY 1999. and efficient heat transfer technology for space and extraterrestrial operations.

2.7 — Advance the state of knowledge sufficiently to allow development of effec- 3 investigations were supported in FY 1999. tive fluid management technology for space and extraterrestrial and industrial operations.

2.8 — Establish the knowledge base required to design chemical process systems for 12 investigations were supported in FY 1999. exploration missions.

2.9 — Determine the potential use of bioreactors to provide biological materials 12 investigations were supported in FY 1999. supporting long-duration space travel.

2.10 — Develop new probe technologies that use living cells or subcellular components 5 investigations were supported in FY 1999. to survey the impacts of extreme environments on terrestrial life.

2.11 — Adapt precision measurement and control technologies developed by fun- 2 investigations were supported in FY 1999. damental physics research activities to solve the needs of human and robotic exploration of space.

4.1 — Involve Americans in the adventure of space exploration by sharing discoveries; Microgravity educational products were down-loaded expand educational opportunities by opening participation in NASA’s from microgravity web sites by more than 168,000 Microgravity Research Program. users.

Program Highlights in FY 1999 • Exciting fundamental research results from fluid physics colloids experiments were obtained on the STS-95 mission, which flew in October 1998. The Colloidal Gelation experiment • The MRP conducted broad, productive, Earth- and space- yielded insight into the formation of gels, near-rigid networks based research, including the first-ever expression of new genes under microgravity conditions in the bioreactor during of particles. This work is the essential first step in the synthesis the STS-90 mission, which flew in March 1998. This of new materials from colloidal particles. The Colloidal research revealed that the microgravity environment of space Disorder-Order Transition experiment yielded insight into fundamentally affects cellular processes and alters gene the physics of the structure of materials at the atomic scale. expression. The research represents the first application of Colloid systems were used to macroscopically model particle recently developed gene array techniques to the understanding interactions among atoms. of changes in cellular function in space. 3 • Spacecraft fire safety data were verified through cooperative • Through NASA’s Graduate Student Research Program, 14 American/Russian experiments on Russian Space Station Mir. graduate students received funding to perform ground-based The flammability of selected United States–supplied plastic microgravity research, supporting a commitment to encourage materials was tested under microgravity conditions in a combustion the next generation of microgravity researchers. tunnel supplied by Russia. The data were compared to reference • Microgravity science posters, teacher’s guides, mathematics testing of the flammability, heat release, thermal properties, and briefs, microgravity demonstrator manuals, and supplemental combustion products of identical materials in ground laboratories curricular materials were made available to more than 44,700 at both the Russian Keldysh Research Center and at Johnson elementary and secondary school teachers and administrators in Space Center’s White Sands Test Facility. attendance at annual meetings of science, technology, and math- • Spacecraft radiation safety was advanced with an understanding ematics teacher’s associations. of the fundamental processes and appropriate materials for shielding the spacecraft from space radiation. Progress included the development of transport code and a nuclear database for evaluation of spacecraft shielding; the assembly of a database of 75 important materials, which are being characterized according to their shielding properties; and an understanding of the production of neutrons from collisions with spacecraft shielding materials. • Optical particle manipulation technologies called laser tweezers and laser scissors, which were developed for colloids research, are being applied to in-vitro fertilization research at University Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. Interest in using the “tweezers” as a noncontact method for manipulating gametes and embryos in the laboratory prompted the collaboration with NASA microgravity researchers. In addition, cell fusion studies using laser tweezers and scissors may be performed by bringing two cells into contact and ablating the cell wall where they touch. • Feasibility testing of the Magneto-Optical Trap for studies in fundamental physics was completed with the successful ground demonstration of the technology. This technology will enable significant increases in timekeeping and enable a broad range of general relativity experiments in microgravity. The technology has been baselined for upcoming fundamental physics research on the International Space Station. • Furthering the MRP’s continuing efforts to communicate and interact with the industrial sector, an Industry Liaison Board was formed through an initiative of the National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and Combustion. The board, convened by William Ballhaus, vice president of Lockheed Martin Corporation, made an initial set of recommendations for how NASA could enhance the value of its microgravity research on fluids and combustion for the industrial sector.

Reaching out to the community in order to increase the awareness of NASA’s microgravity activities is mandated by the MRP’s mission statement and program goals and helps to maintain the strength and relevance of its science program. The following are highlights of education and outreach activities in FY 1999: • Microgravity News, a quarterly update on NASA’s Microgravity Research Program, reached increasing numbers of people in the past year. The total distribution for each issue of the newsletter grew to more than 10,800 copies in calendar year 1999. Introduction 2

This fiscal year (FY) 1999 report describes key elements of Because they are natural extensions of traditional Earth-based the NASA Microgravity Research Program (MRP) as conducted laboratory science, the experiments conducted under the MRP by the Microgravity Research Division (MRD) within NASA’s benefit from the stable, long-duration microgravity environment Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications. The available on orbiting spacecraft. The microgravity environment program’s goals, approach taken to achieve those goals, and available affords substantially reduced buoyancy forces, hydrostatic pressures, resources are summarized. A “snapshot” of the program’s status and sedimentation rates, allowing gravity-related phenomena to at the end of FY 1999 and a review of highlights and progress in be isolated and controlled, and permitting measurements to be ground- and flight-based research are provided. Also described made with an accuracy that cannot be achieved in ground-based are major space missions that flew during FY 1999, plans for laboratories. utilization of the research potential of the International Space Table 2 summarizes information from the Microgravity Station, technology development, and various education and Science and Applications Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY outreach activities. The MRP supports investigators from 1999 that may be of particular interest to the reader. Data for FY academia, industry, and government research communities 1995–1998 are shown for comparison with FY 1999 statistics. needing a space environment to study phenomena directly or indirectly affected by gravity.

Table 2 FY 1995–1999 Research Task Summary: Overview Information and Statistics (includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

FY 1995 FY 1996 FY 1997 FY 1998 FY 1999

Number of principal investigators 290 358 329 377 409 Number of co-investigators 287 396 375 446 487 Number of research tasks 347 508 414 465 485 Total number of bibliographic listings 1,200 1,573 1,428 1,868 2,280 ■ Proceeding papers 140 237 177 305 350 ■ Journal articles 526 600 576 683 905 ■ NASA technical briefs 11 14 10 31 30 ■ Science/technical presentations 509 706 647 823 962 ■ Books/chapters 14 16 18 26 33 Number of patents applied for or awarded 124826 Number of students funded 534 780 748 853 969

Number of degrees granted based 178 247 243 277 368 on MRD-funded research Number of states with funded research 34 35 36 36 36 (including District of Columbia) FY MRD Budget ($ in millions) 163.5 159 105.3 100.4 113.7 5 The Microgravity Research Program supports both basic the development of new theories explaining unexpected results. and applied research in five key areas: These results and the improved understanding accompanying • Biotechnology — focusing on macromolecular crystal them can lead to improved combustion efficiency and fire safety; growth as well as the use of the unique space environment to reduced combustion-generated pollutants; the development of assemble and grow mammalian tissue. new technologies in industries as varied as medicine, chemical processing, and materials processing; the development or • Combustion science — focusing on the processes of ignition, improvement of pharmaceuticals; and the expansion of funda- flame propagation, and extinction during combustion of mental knowledge in a broad range of science disciplines destined gaseous, liquid, and solid fuels, and on combustion synthesis to become the foundation for scientific and technological discoveries in a low-gravity environment. in the future. • Fluid physics — including aspects of fluid dynamics and A complementary document to this MRP annual report is transport phenomena affected by the presence of gravity. the Microgravity Research Division Program Tasks and Bibliography • Fundamental physics — including the study of critical phe- for FY 1999, available online at http://microgravity.hq.nasa.gov/ nomena; low-temperature, atomic, and gravitational physics; research.htm. Detailed information on the research tasks funded and other areas of fundamental physics where significant by the MRD during FY 1999 is listed in that report, which serves advantages exist for studies in a low-gravity environment. as an excellent reference for supplementary information to this • Materials science — including electronic and photonic materials, annual report. Also of interest is the NASA Microgravity Science glasses and ceramics, polymers, and metals and alloys. and Applications Program Strategic Plan, issued in June 1993, a Experiments in these areas are typically directed at providing guide for development and implementation of the MRP plans a better understanding of gravity-dependent physical phenomena and activities to the year 2000. The Marshall Space Flight Center and exploring phenomena obscured by the effects of gravity. (MSFC) Strategic Implementation Plan, January 1996, describes Scientific results are used to challenge or validate contemporary MSFC’s lead center role for the MRP. scientific theories, identify and describe new experimental techniques Table 3 lists the number of research tasks and types performed that are unique to the low-gravity environment, and engender at each NASA center for FY 1995–1999.

Table 3 Microgravity Research Tasks and Types by Fiscal Year (responsibilities by center)

Center Ground Flight ATD* Center Totals

95 96 97 98 99 95 96 97 98 99 95 96 97 98 99 95 96 97 98 99

Glenn Research Center 125 203 137 152 163 32 46 40 44 43 6 6 7 6 5 163 255 184 202 211

Jet Propulsion Laboratory 28 45 23 42 40 5 7 5 9 9 3 3 3 3 3 36 55 31 54 52

Johnson Space Center 34 32 42 37 55 1 1 1 1 2 0 1 1 1 1 35 34 44 39 58

Marshall Space Flight Center 76 124 117 127 135 25 32 31 39 39 6 4 5 3 4 107 160 153 169 178

Research Task Totals 266 406 319 358 393 65 87 78 93 93 16 15 17 13 13 347 508 414 464 499 * Advanced Technology Development Table 4 shows the distribution of principal investigators by state, including the District of Columbia.

Table 4 FY 1999 Microgravity Research Division Principal Investigators by State

0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 5 27 MA-23 0 RI- 2 0 13 CT-9 15 NJ- 0 10 4 0 40 DE- 3 0 21 5 MD-29 67 13 1 DC-4 0 3 7 0 6 6 6 5 3 0 1 Microgravity Research Division 2 29 5 409* Principal Investigators funded in 25 36 states including the District of Columbia 3 +_ includes investigators that may not 8 have received FY 1999 funds

7 3 Microgravity Research Conducted in FY 1999

In fiscal year (FY) 1999, researchers in the Microgravity Research Program’s five science disciplines — biotechnology, combustion science, fluid physics, fundamental physics, and materials science — worked to advance human understanding of fundamental physical phenomena and processes through their investigations, which quantify the effects of and overcome the limitations imposed by gravity. Ground-based experiments, coupled with experiments selected for flight definition, comprise a compelling and coherent strategy for understanding and using the microgravity space environment. Highlights of research activity in FY 1999 are presented for each science discipline.

Biotechnology Molecular Science Overview The shape and chemical components of biological macromolecules determine their function. These molecules, mostly Biotechnology is the application of knowledge concerning proteins and nucleic acids, perform or regulate all the functions biological systems for the production of consumer goods or services. necessary to maintain life. Thus, how a living organism functions The Microgravity Research Program’s biotechnology discipline must be comprehended at the molecular level. Understanding furthers the advancement of biotechnology by sponsoring the function of a living organism is a complex task. About research activities involving both spaceflight and ground-based 100,000 different types of biological macromolecules are at work experiments. The fields most affected by this research are medi- in the human body. Substructures that make up these molecules cine and agriculture. Biotechnology also supports a broad range are called folds. There are an estimated 10,000 different types of of manufacturing industries, since processes that use biological folds found in nature. components or mimic biological systems can be used for a variety An organism’s genetic code controls the production of its of purposes including the creation of new materials, the removal molecules. Small differences between codes can result in major of contaminants, and the improvement of the efficiency of differences between organisms. For example, humans and apes chemical reactions. In addition, biotechnology applications are share over 99 percent of the same genetic code. Small errors in important to NASA because they provide enabling technology an organism’s code can cause misformed molecules that can for space exploration. result in genetic defects and susceptibility to disease. Research in the microgravity biotechnology program The most common way to study the structure of biological includes investigations in both molecular science and cellular science. molecules is called crystallography. Scientists first produce and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) serves as the managing purify a significant amount of a molecule and then grow crystals center for the biotechnology discipline and directly oversees molec- of the material. If the crystals are of sufficient quality, an X-ray ular research within the discipline. The Johnson Space Center beam shining through the crystal can be used to produce a distinct arm of the program manages projects involving cellular and tissue pattern of diffracted light. This diffraction pattern is unique to research. Sponsored projects emerge from three categories: (1) the molecules that make up the crystal. Computer codes can then be used to decipher the pattern and estimate the size, shape, and projects that use the space environment for research purposes; (2) structural composition of the molecule. The quality of the estimate ground-based experiments that improve our ability to use space is largely determined by the quality of the crystal. This structural as a research tool; and (3) research that enables space exploration. information is vital in understanding how the molecule works. Currently funded research projects include studies of cellular The shape and composition of the molecule determines what other development, tissue engineering, biomaterials, radiation effects, molecules can and will interact with it. The analogies of a key the crystallization of biological materials, molecular structure, fitting in a lock or a hand in a glove are often used to describe and the purification of biological materials. how one molecule in the body interacts with another. Large, living organisms are constructed of systems of Scientists from a number of different fields specialize in the organs, each of which comprises specific tissues. These in turn study of biological macromolecules. Drug designers are particu- are composed of cells, which contain billions of biological mole- larly interested in molecules found in the human body. If a drug cules. These biological molecules are much larger and more is of the wrong molecular shape, size, or chemical function it is complex than nonbiological molecules. The unique chemical likely to have no effect, or even worse, react with molecules that traits of these molecules are the foundation of life. A primary it was not designed for. Molecular information is also important goal of the biological sciences is to determine how these molecules to genetic engineers, scientists who chemically alter genetic codes are constructed. This allows scientists to determine how they to make species with desirable properties. For example, yeast interact and react with other molecules, and in turn, to understand has been engineered to make insulin, the molecule used to treat how cells function, how tissues form, and how an organism grows, diabetes. In addition, genetic engineering is used to make crop lives, and dies. The research conducted under the biotechnology plants more productive. Molecular knowledge is also the key to discipline focuses on the fundamental bases of how an organism understanding how some species function, survive, and thrive in functions at the molecular and cellular levels. extreme environments such as arctic regions, volcanic vents, and 8 nuclear reactors. An example of this ability to survive in extreme • Development of high-brilliance X-ray diffraction equipment conditions is found in a cold-water fish that produces a natural continued. Diffraction systems that rely on tens of watts of antifreeze in its blood. power as opposed to kilowatts of power were tested and Living organisms make large, complex, and in many cases, shown to be feasible. The work was performed in a cooperative multifunctional molecules that cannot be produced using non- agreement with New Century Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and the living materials. Therefore, materials scientists may require the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Several diffraction data use of living systems to make some types of complex materials. sets have been obtained. For example, one class of molecules, known as enzymes, catalyzes • Research conducted by Denis Wirtz, of Johns Hopkins chemical reactions. Enzymes could be used in industrial University, was published in the prestigious journal Nature. processes to chemically convert waste or pollutants to innocuous The article, titled “Dynamics of Individual Flexible Polymers or useful material. An enzyme can be viewed as a molecular- in a Shear Flow,” describes how the shape of large molecules sized manufacturing plant — it takes other molecules and converts can be affected by fluid flow. Polymeric material was observed them to something else. In this sense, enzymes are the ultimate to exhibit large changes in shape depending on the fluid shear. in nanotechnology. These observations may be applicable to biological molecules. The microgravity biotechnology program has sponsored • A patent was issued for a blood replacement/expander research devoted to improving the ability of scientists to obtain product co-owned by NASA and New Century information about biological molecules. The primary thrust of the research has been to use the spaceflight environment to perform Pharmaceuticals. Walter Reed Army Hospital has signed experiments. In orbit, the effects of buoyancy are nearly negligible. a cooperative agreement with the pharmaceutical company Fluid flows due to density differences are greatly reduced. and will conduct tests on the blood substitute. The patent Sedimentation virtually disappears. The reduction of these effects resulted from research conducted by Daniel Carter, of New can be a big advantage to a scientist. For example, crystals grown Century Pharmaceuticals, on serum albumin. slowly from a solution tend to be of better quality. However, • A team consisting of Edward Snell, of the Universities buoyancy-driven fluid flows inherent on Earth tend to speed the Space Research Association; Craig Kundrot, of MSFC; formation of solution-grown crystals. In addition, when an Gloria Borgstahl, of the University of Toledo; and Henry investigator tries to purify molecules by separating them from Bellamy, of Stanford University, has been awarded 40 days impurities on Earth, buoyancy-driven fluid flows may keep the of beamtime over the next two years at the Stanford impurities and molecules mixed. Spaceflight offers researchers Synchrotron. The project supports three current NASA an opportunity to avoid these problems. Research Announcement (NRA) grants for which Snell, The biotechnology discipline also funds a robust program of Kundrot, and Borgstahl serve as either principal investigators ground-based molecular research. Sponsored studies include the or co-investigators. Approximately half of all molecular analysis of biological crystals, methods to control the quality of structures reported are determined using data from syn- crystals, the formation of substrates made from biological materials, chrotrons. Despite the difficulty in obtaining beamtime, catalytic decomposition of sewage, separation technology, and use of the facility is sought after because its high-intensity studies of molecules found in species living in extreme conditions. beams enable most difficult structures to be determined.

Molecular Science Program Highlights in Fiscal Molecular Science Meetings, Awards, and Publications Year (FY) 1999 The 18th General Assembly of the International Union of • Gray Bunick, of Oak National Laboratory, reported at the Crystallography, held once every three years, took place in American Crystallographic Association (ACA) meeting that Glasgow, Scotland, August 4–13, 1999. More than 2,200 crystal- his laboratory had determined the structure of the nucleosome lographers from 53 different countries attended. NASA, in core particle to high resolution. The structure was determined coordination with the ACA and the International Center for using crystals grown in the Diffusion-Controlled Crystall- Diffraction Data, funded more than 20 U.S. crystallographers ization Apparatus for Microgravity (DCAM) during the to attend and present their results. Many expressed their thanks series of space shuttle flights to Russian Space Station Mir. to NASA in the ACA newsletter. NASA also sponsored a session The nucleosome core particle is found in all cells around the chaired by Edward Snell titled “New Frontiers in Macromolecular DNA, but its function is poorly understood. Crystallization.” A number of NASA-funded experiments were • Crystals of the enzymes RNAse P and 8-oxo-dGTPase presented to the international community at the meeting, includ- grown by the University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB), ing talks by flight investigators Craig Kundrot and Lawrence on the STS-95 mission in October 1998 diffracted to better DeLucas, of UAB. NASA ground-based researchers were also resolution than had been achieved previously. The enzymes well-represented at the meeting, with several talks and many regulate RNA production and repair of DNA, respectively. posters in the sessions. 9 Three meetings were held with a task group of the National determined using neutron diffraction, and two others are in Academy of Science of the National Research Council (NRC). progress. Only 12 structures of biological molecules have ever This task group was established to examine NASA’s plans for been attempted by this technique. The technique requires excep- biotechnology research on the International Space Station (ISS). tionally large crystals, which have been successfully produced in The task group is expected to provide critical assessments of all spaceflight experiments in DCAM. aspects of the biotechnology program during the group’s year- Nineteen types of biological molecules were flown on STS-95 long review, which will culminate in a formal published report using the Vapor-Diffusion Apparatus and the Commercial in the spring of 2000. Chairing the task group was Paul Sigler, Vapor-Diffusion Apparatus. Lawrence DeLucas, the PI for the of Yale University. Membership on the panel includes experts in experiments, reports that 13 of the molecules produced macromolecular science and cell science. diffraction-quality crystals. The NASA biotechnology program assisted and partially funded the ACA’s annual meeting. Several NASA investigators Crystals of NAD synthetase grown by UAB on STS-95 served as session chairs and presenters. Most of the research diffracted to 0.9-angstrom resolution, which indicates crystals of groups performing molecular-based science and funded by the exceptional quality. This resolution allows even hydrogen, the biotechnology discipline were represented and made presentations smallest atom, to be found in the molecular structure. NAD syn- on their research. thetase is vital to the life cycle of all bacteria. The information obtained from these crystals may be used in antibiotic research. Onofrio Annunziata, of Texas Christian University, and his research team, including John Albright, won the Linus Pauling Proteinase K, grown by UAB on STS-95, diffracted to 0.98 prize at the ACA annual meeting. The award recognized a poster angstroms. These data allowed resolution of the protein’s chemi- presentation describing measurements of diffusivities of biological cally active site. A paper on this experiment has already been macromolecules. The measurement technique was shown to be published in the Journal of Crystal Growth. useful for determining the electrostatic charge on the molecules. Peter Vekilov, of the University of Alabama, Huntsville, was one of 12 Americans invited to be speakers at the Third Interna- Cell Science Overview tional Conference on Molecular Structural Biology. The conference More than 70 years ago, cellular biologist E.B. Wilson wrote is one of the most respected in the field of molecular science. in his book, The Cell in Development and Heredity, that “the key At NASA headquarters in June 1999, NASA Administrator to every biological problem must finally be sought in the cell.” Daniel Goldin presented Alexander McPherson, of the University All living creatures are made of cells — small membrane-bound of California, Irvine (UCI), with the Exceptional Scientific compartments filled with a concentrated aqueous solution of Achievement Medal, which was awarded to just three scientists chemicals. The simplest forms of life are solitary cells that propa- this year. McPherson is considered the nation’s foremost authority gate by dividing in two. Higher organisms, such as humans, are on macromolecular crystallization. The McPherson Laboratory like cellular cities in which groups of cells perform specialized at UCI serves as a hub for scientific cooperation among scientists functions and are linked by intricate communications systems. from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the United States. Cells occupy a halfway point in the scale of biological complexity. We study them to learn, on the one hand, how they are made from molecules, and on the other, how they cooperate to make Molecular Science Flight Experiments an organism as complex as a human being. Nine types of biological macromolecules were flown on There are more than 200 different types of cells in the STS-95 in October 1998 using the Protein Crystallization human body. These are assembled into a variety of different Apparatus for Microgravity (PCAM). The principal investigator types of tissue such as epithelia, connective tissue, muscle, and (PI) for the experiment was Daniel Carter. nervous tissue. Most tissues contain a mixture of cell types. Cells Crystals of EF hand proteins grown using PCAM on the are small and complex. A typical animal cell is about five times first Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL–1) mission were smaller than the smallest visible particle. It is hard to see their found to diffract to 0.9-angstrom resolution. This is one of the structure, hard to discover their molecular composition, and higher resolutions ever achieved with a biological macromole- harder still to find out how their various components function. cule. EF hand proteins are important in regulating calcium and Differentiated cells perform specialized functions. Specialized magnesium ions involved in signaling in the nervous system. cells interact and communicate with one another, setting up This research, conducted by Declercq (Université Catholique de signals to govern the character of each cell according to its place Louvain) and its partners, was published in Protein Science and in the structure as a whole. the Journal of Crystal Growth. What can be learned about cells depends on the available Crystals grown in DCAM during the Mir/shuttle flight tools. The culture of cells is one of the most basic tools used by series are being studied by neutron diffraction. Carter, the PI for medical researchers. Growth of human cells outside the body the experiments, reports that one molecular structure has been enables the investigation of the basic biological and physiological 0 phenomena that govern the normal life cycle and many of the group subsequently analyzed the effects of the tumor marker mechanisms of disease. In traditional methods, researchers culture Carcinoembryonic antigen (or CEA, which is produced by mammalian cells using vessels in which cells settle to the bottom human colorectal carcinoma) and how it enhances the ability surface of the vessels under the influence of gravity. This results of weakly metastatic carcinoma cells to implant and survive in a thin sheet, or monolayer, of cells. Cells in human tissues, in the liver. They’ve also found that CEA induces production however, are arranged in complex, three-dimensional structures. of the cytokine IL-10 (Interleukin-10, which down-regulates When cells are grown in a monolayer, they do not function as some immune responses) and are currently beginning to they would in a three-dimensional tissue. Although much valu- apply this to the clinical situation by testing whether IL-10 able information is gained from monolayer cell cultures, further may be modulated by CEA. understanding of the processes that govern gene expression and • Wei-Shou Hu, of the University of Minnesota, and colleagues cellular differentiation is limited because the cells are not are developing a bioartificial liver and investigating manu- arranged as they are in the human body. When the influence of facturing tissue-like liver cells in the bioreactor for use in gravity is decreased, the cells are able to form more tissue-like, clinical investigations. three-dimensional aggregates. Until the cellular biotechnology • Several research efforts are under way to benefit the future program developed a unique technology, the NASA bioreactor, of microgravity research by developing technology that will experiments to form three-dimensional cell formations were continuously monitor and control the cell culture environment confined to the microgravity of space. in bioreactors operating on orbit. Sophisticated sensors are an The NASA bioreactor is an analog of microgravity cell cul- important part of space exploration as well as of research on ture. The completely filled cylindrical vessel rotates about a cell culture. These sensors are needed to achieve a physiolog- horizontal axis, suspending the cells in a low-shear culturing ically balanced culture environment that will enable growth environment. This allows for cell aggregation, differentiation, of tissues for transplantation. David Murhammer, of the and growth. The NASA bioreactor affords researchers exciting University of Iowa, and colleagues are investigating the use opportunities by creating three-dimensional cell cultures that are of near-infrared spectroscopy for real-time, noninvasive similar to tissues found in the human body. Using both space- and monitoring of selected parameters that are critical for animal ground-based bioreactors, scientists are investigating the prospect cell cultures. Melody Anderson, of Johnson Space Center (JSC), and coworkers successfully developed and validated a of developing tissues that can be used in medical transplantation photometric-based pH sensor in a ground-based bioreactor to replace failed organs and tissues. Additionally, investigators for a period greater than 90 days. Glenn Spaulding, of the are striving to produce models of human disease to be used in Clear Lake Medical Foundation, Inc., is working on optical the development of novel drugs and vaccines for the treatment sensors that monitor cell culture media remotely. and prevention of disease, to devise strategies to re-engineer defective tissues, and to develop new hypotheses for the emergence • Joshua Zimmerberg and Leonid Margolis, both of the of diseases such as cancer. Finally, cells exposed to simulated and NASA/NIH Three-Dimensional Tissue Laboratory, have true microgravity respond by making novel adaptational changes established cell culture models of immune dysfunction using human tonsilar tissue. that give new insights to cellular processes, establish a cellular basis for the human response to microgravity and the space envi- • Thomas Goodwin, of JSC, presented the first stable cell cul- ronment, and open the way for cell biology research in space on tures of bowhead whale kidney, an important step in investi- the transition of terrestrial life to low-gravity environments. gating the environmental toxicology of heavy metals. Discovery that bowhead whale metallothionein (MTH) protein is homologous to human MTH protein resulted from the development of three-dimensional tissue cultures. Cell Science Program Highlights in FY 1999 MTH is the primary site for binding heavy metals and other • The NASA rotating bioreactor is not only a microgravity toxins. The genetic sequence for this protein was logged cell culture analog, but it also engenders novel approaches with the National Gene Bank. in tissue engineering. Lisa Freed and Gordana • Timothy Hammond, of Tulane University, demonstrated Vunjak-Novakovic, both of the Massachusetts Institute of the vast array of genes affected when cells transition to Technology (MIT), used the bioreactor to engineer cardiac microgravity. tissue with techniques similar to those used to culture • H. Alan Wood, of Cornell University, demonstrated the functional cartilage tissue. These latest results from the unique glycosylations that occur in bioreactor cultures of MIT tissue engineering effort are the first steps toward insect cells expressing human genes. His finding opens new engineering heart muscle tissue that may one day be used possibilities in the production of biologically active human to patch damaged human hearts. glycoproteins. • J. Milburn Jessup, of the University of Texas Health Science • Neal Pellis and Alamelu Sundaresan, both of JSC, further Center Medical School, used the bioreactor to develop a characterized the signal transduction lesion in cells exposed model for metastasis of colon cancer cells to the liver. Jessup’s to microgravity analog culture. 11 • The fluid environment of space- and ground-based bioreactors Cell science investigators presented research results at the was characterized independently by Paul Neitzel, of the following meetings and conferences in FY 1999: the 39th Annual Georgia Institute of Technology, and Stanley Kleis, of the American Society for Cell Biology meeting, the 1999 Annual University of Houston. American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases meeting, • Three patents were approved and five patents are pending in the 15th Annual Meeting of the American Society for the cellular biotechnology program in FY 1999. Gravitational and Space Biology, the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition/American Society of • Fifty-nine investigations in cell science were funded for 1999 Mechanical Engineers meeting, the Laboratory of Cellular and from the NRA in biotechnology (97-HEDS-02) released in Molecular Biophysics Laboratory Retreat, the 15th Congress of December 1997. the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists and Fourth International Malpighi Symposium, the 217th American Chemical Society Annual Meeting, the 90th Annual Meeting of Cell Science Meetings, Awards, and Publications the American Association for Cancer Research, the Sixth World One of the most important events of FY 1999 for the cellu- Biomaterials Congress and 2000 Society for Biomaterials Joint lar biotechnology program was the evaluation of NASA’s Meeting, the 1999 Transcriptional Regulatory Mechanisms Biotechnology Facility for the ISS, conducted by the NRC’s task Symposium, the meeting of the Society for In-Vitro Biology, the group. The cellular biotechnology program provided presenta- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics meeting, the tions in three meetings that specifically identified the science meeting of the American Chemical Society, the American requirements for the facility, the selection process for research to Institute of Chemical Engineers meeting, the American Diabetes be conducted in the facility, and the potential output of a dedi- Association Annual Meeting, the Materials Research Society Fall cated facility. The NRC task group examined the use of the ISS Meeting, the meeting of the American Physical Society, the as a platform for biotechnology research. The final report will be National Institute for Science and Technology — Biomaterials released in the spring of 2000. Group Seminar, the North American Hyperthermia Society The cellular biotechnology program manager, Neal Pellis, 18th Annual Meeting, and the meeting of the American was a guest speaker at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Association of Clinical Endocrinologists’ Upstate New York Thomas Goodwin, of JSC, received the NASA Group Chapter and the joint International Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to the and Diabetes Research Foundation’s Open Meeting on the New NASA/Mir Phase 1 space station program. Age of Diabetes Research and Care. Neal Pellis received the NASA Group Achievement Twenty-two presentations covering ground and flight Award from the NASA/Mir Phase 1 Microgravity Science Team research in basic cell science, tissue engineering, and protein for exceptional dedication to the science planning, development, crystal growth were discussed at the 1999 Biotechnology Cell and operations support of microgravity experiments that have Science Program Investigators’ Working Group Meeting in flown onboard Mir as part of the Phase 1 program. Houston, Texas. “Gene Expression in Space,” by Timothy Hammond, et al., Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic and colleagues at MIT presented was published in the April issue of Nature Medicine. The article a talk titled “Microgravity Studies of Cells and Tissues: From describes the influence of various gravitational environments on Mir to ISS” at the conference on International Space Station gene expression by human renal cells in culture. Utilization — Biotechnology on the ISS, held in Albuquerque, A team of researchers led by Lisa Freed published their New Mexico. findings on engineered cardiac tissue in the American Journal of The future of research relevant to improving the quality of Physiology and Biotechnology and Bioengineering. increased longevity and how space life sciences will contribute to An article discussing the research of Goodwin and collabo- that aim was discussed at the Media Forum on Aging Research rators on heavy metal contamination in arctic whales was pub- at the National Press Club in conjunction with the Association lished in The Scientist. for Aging Research. In FY 1999, cell science researchers published in such A report on the development of a model for the study of diverse journals as Nature Medicine, Cancer Research, Advances in heavy metals in cetaceans (whales) was presented at the Interna- Space Research, the Journal of Immunology, the Journal of Clinical tional Whaling Commission’s annual meeting. Investigation, Pharmacological Research, Biomaterials, the Journal Cell science papers were presented at the Biannual Meeting of Membrane Biology, In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology and General Assembly of the European Low-Gravity Research — Animal, (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Association, held in Rome, Italy, and at a session titled “Out of Biology), Analytical Chimica Acta, Oncogene, the Journal of This World Biotechnology — The NASA Connection” at the Immunotherapy, International Reviews of Immunology, Bio ’99 International Biotechnology Meeting and Exhibition in Immunopharmacology, Gastroenterology, and the Applied Seattle, Washington. Spectroscopy Journal. 2 Cell Science Flight Experiments Evaluation of data from the first attempt to construct a three-dimensional vascularized tumor model in microgravity on STS-89/Mir-7 has indicated the beginning stages of angiogenesis. Further data analysis is under way as preparations continue for the repeat of this experiment on the ISS. The following cell science payloads are under consideration for early flights aboard the ISS: the Biotechnology Specimen Temperature Controller (BSTC) on flight for 7A.1, the BSTC on the first Utilization Flight (UF-1), and the Rotating Wall Perfused System on UF-2. The FY 1999 ground and flight tasks for biotechnology are listed in Table 5. Further details on these tasks may be found in the complementary document Microgravity Science and Applications Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1999, available online at http://microgravity.hq.nasa.gov/research.htm.

Table 5 Biotechnology Tasks Funded by the Microgravity Research Division in FY 1999 (includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

Flight Experiments An Observable Protein Crystal Growth Flight Apparatus Alexander McPherson Jr. Protein Crystal Growth Facility–Based Microgravity Hardware: Science and University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA Applications Daniel C. Carter Enhanced Dewar Program New Century Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Huntsville, AL Alexander McPherson Jr. University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA Microgravity Studies of Medically Relevant Macromolecules Lawrence J. DeLucas Effects of Convective Transport of Solute and Impurities on Defect-Causing Kinetics University of Alabama, Birmingham; Birmingham, AL Instabilities in Protein Crystallization Peter G. Vekilov Protein Crystal Growth in Microgravity University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL Lawrence J. DeLucas University of Alabama, Birmingham; Birmingham, AL Investigation of the Particle Dynamics in the Vicinity of Crystal Surfaces: Depletion Zone Dynamics A Microgravity-Based, Three-Dimensional Transgenic Cell Model to Quantify Keith B. Ward Genotoxic Effects in Space Naval Research Laboratory; Washington, DC Steve R. Gonda Johnson Space Center; Houston, TX Ground-Based Experiments Growth, Metabolism, and Differentiation of MIP-101 Carcinoma Cells J. Milburn Jessup Experimental Assessment of Multicomponent Effects in Diffusion-Dominated University of Texas Health Science Center Medical School Transport in Protein Crystal Growth and Electrophoresis and Chiral Separations San Antonio, TX John G. Albright Texas Christian University; Forth Worth, TX Macromolecule Nucleation and Growth Rate Dispersion Studies: A Predictive Technique for Crystal Quality Improvement in Microgravity Crystallization Mechanisms of Membrane Proteins Russell Judge James P. Allen Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL Arizona State University; Tempe, AZ Optimizing the Use of Microgravity to Improve the Diffraction Quality of Novel Concepts in Acoustophoresis for Biotechnology Applications Problematic Biomacromolecular Crystals Robert E. Apfel Craig E. Kundrot Yale University; New Haven, CT Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL

13 Real-Time Monitoring of Protein Concentration in Solution to Control Nucleation and Modeling Prostate Cancer Skeletal Metastasis and Cell Therapy Crystal Growth Leland W. Chung Mark A. Arnold University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA Ions and Protein Association: aw and Protein Crystals The Use of Bioactive Glass Particles as Microcarriers in Microgravity Environment Kim D. Collins Portonovo S. Ayyaswamy University of Maryland Medical School; Baltimore, MD University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA Design, Synthesis, and Characterization of Well-Defined, Biomimetic Polypeptide Protein Crystal–Based Nanomaterials Networks Jeffrey A. Bell Vincent P. Conticello Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Troy, NY Emory University; Atlanta, GA An Accoustically Assisted Bioreactor for Terrestrial and Microgravity Applications Investigation of Neuronal Physiology in Simulated Microgravity Using Smart Joanne M. Belovich Fluorescent Microcarriers and Bulk Near-Infrared Sensors Cleveland State University; Cleveland, OH Gerard L. Cote Texas A&M University; College Station, TX Expansion and Differentiation of Cells in Three-Dimensional Matrices Mimicking Physiological Environments Noninvasive, Near-Infrared Sensor for Continual Cell Glucose Measurement Rajendra S. Bhatnagar Gerard L. Cote University of California, San Francisco; San Francisco, CA Texas A&M University; College Station, TX Searching for the Best Protein Crystals: Synchrotron-Based Mosaicity Measurements A Comprehensive Investigation of Macromolecular Transport During Protein Crystallization of Crystal Quality and Theoretical Modeling Lawrence J. DeLucas Gloria Borgstahl University of Alabama, Birmingham; Birmingham, AL University of Toledo; Toledo, OH Development of Robotic Techniques for Microgravity Protein Crystal Growth Reversible Cryogenic Storage of Macromolecular Crystals Grown in Microgravity Lawrence J. DeLucas Gerard J. Bunick University of Alabama, Birmingham; Birmingham, AL University of Tennessee; Oak Ridge, TN Macromolecular Crystallization: Physical Principles, Passive Devices, and Optimal Development of an Insulin-Secreting, Immunoprivileged Cell-Cell Aggregate Utilizing Protocols the NASA Rotating Wall Vessel George T. DeTitta Donald F. Cameron Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute; Buffalo, NY University of South Florida, College of Medicine; Tampa, FL Use of Microgravity-Based Bioreactors to Study Intercellular Communication in Quantitative, Multivariate Methods for Preflight Optimization and Postflight Airway Cells Evaluation of Macromolecular Crystal Growth Ellen R. Dirksen Charles W. Carter University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC Microbial Resistance to Solar Radiation: DNA Damage and Application of Repair Quantitative, Statistical Methods for Preflight Optimization and Postflight Evaluation Enzymes in Biotechnology of Macromolecular Crystal Growth Jocelyne Diruggiero Charles W. Carter University of Maryland, Biotechnology Institute; Baltimore, MD University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC Laser Scattering Tomography for the Study of Defects in Protein Crystals Origin of Imperfections in Growing Protein Crystals by In-Situ Rocking Curve Analysis Robert S. Feigelson Alexander A. Chernov Stanford University; Stanford, CA Universities Space Research Association, Marshall Space Flight Novel Strategy for Three-Dimensional In-Vitro Bone Induction Center; Huntsville, AL John A. Frangos Infrared Signatures for Mammalian Cells in Culture University of California, San Diego; La Jolla, CA Krishnan K. Chittur Role of Fluid Shear on Three-Dimensional Bone Tissue Culture University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL John A. Frangos University of California, San Diego; La Jolla, CA Differentiation of Three-Dimensional Cocultures of Myofibroblasts, Preneoplastic Epithelial and Mononuclear Cells Microgravity Tissue Engineering Vimlarani Chopra Lisa E. Freed University of Texas Medical Branch; Galveston, TX Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA Microgravity-Simulated Prostate Cell Culture Epitaxial Growth of Protein Crystals on Self-Assembled Monolayers Leland W. Chung Jonathan M. Friedman University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA University of Houston; Houston, TX 4 Protein and DNA Crystal Lattice Engineering Applications of Atomic Force Microscopy to Investigate Mechanisms of Protein Crystal D. T. Gallagher Growth Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology; Rockville, MD John H. Konnert Naval Research Laboratory; Washington, DC In-Situ Optical Waveguides for Promoting and Monitoring Protein Crystal Growth Ursula Gibson Differentiation and Maintenance of Skeletal and Cardiac Muscle in Simulated Dartmouth College; Hanover, NH Microgravity William E. Kraus Microgravity-Based Three-Dimensional Transgenic Cell Models Duke University Medical Center; Durham, NC Steve R. Gonda Johson Space Center; Houston, TX Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Development and Differentiation In Vitro by Mechanical and Chemical Factors Lymphocyte Invasion Into Tumor Models Emulated Under Microgravity Conditions In Vitro William E. Kraus Thomas J. Goodwin Duke University Medical Center; Durham, NC Johnson Space Center; Houston, TX Nutritional Immunomodulation in Microgravity: Application of Ground-Based In-Vivo Application of Bioreactor Technology for a Preclinical Human Model of Melanoma and In-Vitro Bioreactor Models to Study Role and Mechanisms of Supplemental Elizabeth A. Grimm Nucleotides M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas; Houston, TX Anil D. Kulkarni University of Texas Health Science Center; Houston, TX Application of Bioreactor Technology for Analysis and Counter Measure Development of Microgravity-Induced Suppression of Innate Immunity Development of a Noninvasive Glucose Monitor Elizabeth A. Grimm James L. Lambert M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas; Houston, TX Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA Differentiation of Cultured Normal Human Renal Epithelial Cells in Microgravity PC12 Pheochromocytoma Cells: A Proven Model System for Optimizing Three- Timothy G. Hammond Dimensional Cell Culture Biotechnology in Space Tulane University Medical Center; New Orleans, LA Peter I. Lelkes University of Wisconsin Medical Center; Milwaukee, WI Production of 1-25-diOH D3 by Renal Epithelial Cells in Simulated Microgravity Culture Timothy G. Hammond Multidisciplinary Studies of Cells, Tissues, and Mammalian Development in Simulated Tulane University Medical Center; New Orleans, LA Microgravity Elliot M. Levine Determining the Conditions Necessary for the Development of Functional Wistar Institute; Philadelphia, PA Replacement Cartilage Using a Microgravity Reactor Carole A. Heath Analysis of Electrophoretic Transport of Macromolecules Using Pulsed Field Gradient Iowa State University; Ames, IA NMR Bruce R. Locke New Cell Culture Technology Florida State University; Tallahassee, FL Charles E. Helmstetter Florida Institute of Technology; Melbourne, FL Quantitative Analysis of Surfactant Interactions During Membrane Protein Crystallization The Effects of Microgravity on Viral Replication Patrick J. Loll John H. Hughes University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Philadelphia, PA Ohio State University; Columbus, OH Cellular Oxygen and Nutrient Sensing in Microgravity Using Time-Resolved Use of NASA Bioreactor to Study Cell Cycle Regulation Fluorescence Microscopy J. Milburn Jessup Henryk Malak University of Texas Health Science Center Medical School Microcosm, Inc.; Columbia, MD San Antonio, TX Ground-Based Program for the Physical Analysis of Macromolecular Crystal Growth Use of Rotating Wall Vessel to Facilitate Culture of Norwalk Virus Alexander J. Malkin Philip C. Johnson University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA University of Texas Medical School; Houston, TX Growth Processes and Defect Structure of Macromolecular Crystals Stabilization and Preservation of Crystals for X-Ray Diffraction Experiments Alexander J. Malkin Frances Jurnak University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA Thyroid Follicle Formation in Microgravity: Three-Dimensional Organoid Construction Protein Crystallization in Complex Fluids in a Low-Shear Environment Eric W. Kaler Andreas Martin University of Delaware; Newark, DE Mount Sinai Medical Center; New York, NY 15 Microgravity Regulation of Oncogene Expression and Osteoblast Differentiation Impact of Microgravity on Immunogenicity Associated With Biostructural Changes in Laura R. McCabe Pancreatic Islets Michigan State University; East Lansing, MI Lynne P. Rutzky University of Texas Health Science Center; Houston, TX Biological Particle Separation in Low Gravity D. J. Morré Cartilage Tissue Engineering: Circumferential Seeding of Chondrocytes Using Rotating Purdue University; West Lafayette, IN Reactors Robert L. Sah Continuous, Noninvasive Monitoring of Rotating Wall Vessels and Application to the University of California, San Diego; La Jolla, CA Study of Prostate Cancer David W. Murhammer Enhancement of Cell Function in Culture by Controlled Aggregation Under University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA Microgravity Conditions W. M. Saltzman Monitoring and Control of Rotating Wall Vessels and Application to the Study of Cornell University; Ithaca, NY Prostate Cancer David W. Murhammer Use of NASA Bioreactors in a Novel Scheme for Immunization Against Cancer University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA Cherylyn A. Savary M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas; Houston, TX Diffusion, Viscosity, and Crystal Growth of Proteins in Microgravity Allan S. Myerson Electrohydrodynamics of Suspensions Polytechnic University; Brooklyn, NY Dudley A. Saville Princeton University; Princeton, NJ Control of Transport in Protein Crystal Growth Using Restrictive Geometries Robert J. Naumann Influence of Impurities on Protein Crystal Growth University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL Constance A. Schall University of Toledo; Toledo, OH Insect-Cell Cultivation in Simulated Microgravity Kim C. O’Connor Microgravity and the Biology of Neural Stem Cells Tulane University; New Orleans, LA William J. Schwartz University of Massachusetts Medical School; Worcester, MA Extremophilic Interfacial Systems for Waste Processing in Space Tonya L. Peeples Gastric Mucosal Cell Culture in Simulated Microgravity University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA Adam J. Smolka Medical University of South Carolina; Charleston, SC Microgravity and Immunosuppression: A Ground-Based Model in the Slow-Turning Electrophoretic Focusing Lateral Vessel Bioreactor Robert S. Snyder Neal R. Pellis New Century Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Huntsville, AL Johnson Space Center; Houston, TX Application of pH, Glucose, and Oxygen Biosensors to NASA Rotating Culture Vessels Fluorescence Studies of Protein Aggregation in Under- and Over-Saturated Solutions Glenn F. Spaulding Marc L. Pusey Clear Lake Medical Foundation, Inc.; Houston, TX Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL Influence of Microgravity Conditions on Gene Transfer Into Expanded Populations of The Role of Specific Interactions in Protein Crystal Nucleation and Growth Studied by Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells Site-Directed Mutagenesis F. M. Stewart Marc L. Pusey University of Massachusetts Medical Center; Worster, MA Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL Production of Recombinant Human Erythropoietin by Mammalian Cells Cultured in Stem Cell Expansion in Rotating Bioreactors Simulated Microgravity Peter J. Quesenberry Arthur J. Sytkowski University of Massachusetts Medical Center; Worcester, MA Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Boston, MA Islet Cell Assembly and Function in a NASA Microgravity Bioreactor Defects, Growth, and Elastic Properties of Protein Crystals Arun S. Rajan Robert E. Thorne Baylor College of Medicine; Houston, TX Cornell University; Ithaca, NY Heterozygous Ataxia-Telangiectasia Human Mammary Cells as a Microgravity-Based Impurity Effects in Macromolecular Crystal Growth Model of Differentiation and Cancer Susceptibility Robert E. Thorne Robert C. Richmond Cornell University; Ithaca, NY Marshall Space Flight Center; Hunstville, AL Mechanisms for Membrane Protein Crystallization: Analysis by Small Angle Neutron Evaluating Oxidative Stress in Virally Infected Cells in Simulated Microgravity Scattering Victor G. Rodgers David M. Tiede University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA Argonne National Laboratory; Argonne, IL

6 Preparation and Analysis of RNA Crystals Ex-Vivo Hemopoieses in a Three-Dimensional Human Bone Marrow Culture Under Paul Todd Simulated Microgravity University of Colorado; Boulder, CO J. H. David Wu University of Rochester; Rochester, NY Development of Microflow Biochemical Sensors for Space Biotechnology Bruce C. Towe Freely Suspended Liquid Films and Their Applications in Biological Research Arizona State University; Tempe, AZ Xiao-lun Wu University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh, PA Self-Renewal Replication of Hematopoietic Stem Cells in Microgravity Christie M. Traycoff Liver Tissue Engineering in Microgravity Environment Indiana Cancer Research Institute; Indianapolis, IN Boris Yoffe Baylor College of Medicine; Houston, TX Experimental Studies of Protein Crystal Growth Under Simulated Low-Gravity Conditions Particle Interaction Potentials and Protein Crystal Quality Eugene H. Trinh Charles F. Zukoski National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Washington, DC University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL Protein Precipitant–Specific Criteria for the Impact of Reduced Gravity on Crystal Perfection Peter G. Vekilov University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL Two-Dimensional Protein Crystallization at Interfaces Viola Vogel University of Washington; Seattle, WA Two-Dimensional Crystal Growth in Microgravity Theodore G. Wensel Baylor College of Medicine; Houston, TX Rejuvenation of Spent Media via Supported Emulsion Liquid Membranes John M. Wiencek University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA Thermodynamics of Protein Crystallization and Links to Crystal Quality John M. Wiencek University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA Membrane Protein Crystallization Screens Based Upon Fundamental Phenomenology of Detergent and Protein-Detergent Solutions Michael C. Wiener University of Virginia Health Sciences Center; Charlottesville, VA Metastable Solution Structure and Optimization Strategies in Protein Crystal Growth Lori J. Wilson East Tennessee State University; Johnson City, TN A Rational Approach for Predicting Protein Crystallization W. W. Wilson Mississippi State University; Mississippi State, MS Novel Approaches Regarding Protein Solubility W. W. Wilson Mississippi State University; Mississippi State, MS Novel Microgravity Optical Technique for Molecularly Engineering Electrophoretic Media Denis Wirtz Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD The Effects of Microgravity/Low Shear on Glycosylation and Eukaryotic DNA Virus Replication H. A. Wood Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

17 Combustion Science

Combustion and the results of combustion processes affect Diagnostics — Investment in technological improvements in each of us every day. The majority of the world’s electric power measurement capabilities is of high priority due to the payoff in production, home heating, and ground and air transportation are scientific data return from space experiments. Historically, spin- made possible by combustion. Unfortunately, combustion by-products off opportunities have also resulted from successful development are major contributors to air pollution and global warming. of combustion diagnostics. Additionally, unintentional fires claim thousands of lives and cost Pressure effects — High pressure and/or supercritical opera- billions of dollars in property damage. Improved control of com- tion of combustors yields improved thermodynamic efficiency at bustion would be of great benefit to society, yet beneficial control the expense of increased generation of pollutants. Conventional of combustion is impeded by a lack of fundamental understanding diesel engines operate at 50 atmospheres (atm), but most research of combustion processes. Combustion research is hampered more has been conducted at near-ambient conditions (1 atm). Research than other areas of science by the effects of gravitational forces on at higher pressure levels is important because the influence of Earth, since combustion intrinsically involves the production of buoyancy on combustion processes increases with pressure. high-temperature gases in which low densities trigger buoyant Benchmark data on laminar flames — Flames in practical flows. These flows cause the reaction zone to collapse into very devices, although highly turbulent, operate in the “laminar thin, sheet-like regions that are impenetrable by current or antici- flamelet” regime; that is, their flames are typically smooth and pated instrumentation. Conducting experiments in microgravity steady like butane lighters and gas stoves. Advances in under- eliminates buoyancy and expands the reaction zone, thereby standing laminar flame structure and associated characteristics improving the measurement resolution. The resulting data are will have a direct impact on the modeling of turbulent flames. used to verify combustion theory, validate numerical models, and Spray and aerosol cloud combustion — This type of com- develop fresh insight into elemental phenomena, all of which can bustion, typical of the way cars burn fuel, accounts for 25 percent be applied to Earth-based combustion processes. Specific potential of the world’s energy use yet remains poorly understood from benefits that may ensue, in part, from microgravity combustion both fundamental and practical perspectives. Microgravity not research include the following: only offers a quiescent, nonbuoyant environment for the study of • Increased conversion efficiency of chemical energy stored in spray and cloud combustion, it also overcomes the problem of fuels to useful heat and work in combustion devices, leading droplet settling in a 1 g environment. to economic savings, reduced dissipation of scarce fuel Combustion synthesis — Flame-synthesized products reserves, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. include valuable vapors (e.g., acetylene), ultrafine particles (e.g., fullerenes, silicon oxides, and titanium oxides), coatings (e.g., dia- • Reduction of combustion-related effluents that pollute the monds), and monolithic solids (e.g., boron carbide and titanium atmosphere. boride). These materials are rapidly expanding in breadth of use • Reduction of fire and explosion hazards. and value, but their production remains very much an art, rather • Improved hazardous waste incineration processes. than a science. Sedimentation and buoyant plumes lead to short • Development of improved materials via combustion synthesis residence times and interfere with investigation into the mechanisms of material production. Current research is geared toward for use in widely diverse applications such as bone replacement, interpreting the differences between normal- and low-gravity electrical components, and engines. processing and toward improving the products. The microgravity combustion science program, in conjunction Surface flame spread — Large-scale fires and fire spread on with the combustion science discipline working group, has defined Earth are complicated by buoyancy-fed turbulent processes and the following high-priority areas for microgravity research and is thermal radiative interactions with surrounding materials, terrain, supporting research in each area: and building structures. Current models of flame spread generally Combustion-turbulence interactions — The majority of omit thermal radiation because of the limited understanding of practical combustion devices involve turbulent flows. this transport mechanism. Laboratory-scale experiments in Microgravity uniquely limits the range of turbulent length and microgravity have begun to elucidate the importance of thermal time scales to those large enough to be tractable experimentally. radiation and indicate that these results might be utilized in mod- Soot processes — Soot is a critical element in many combustion eling large-scale fires. systems because it can have a strong effect on combustor lifetime, Transient processes in gaseous flames — Microgravity efficiency, peak power output, and pollution generation. The lack experimentation can provide insights into flame instabilities, such of buoyancy-induced flow acceleration in a microgravity environ- as ignition, extinction, and imposed perturbations that are often ment results in longer periods of time in which primary soot for- masked by buoyancy in normal gravity. mation, soot clustering, cluster-cluster agglomeration, and Spacecraft fire safety — Models used to study spacecraft fire oxidation can be investigated. safety are still considered “primitive.” Further research is 8 required in the areas of microgravity flammability, fire spread, fuel-oxidizer mixtures under near-limit conditions and his fire and smoke detection, fire suppression, and postfire cleanup. research in the area of cool flames leading to the development of To aid in disseminating results to date and to engage in cleaner, more efficient engines. In his work, Pearlman discovered discussion of potentially new investigation areas, the Fifth the first evidence of a gas-phase diffusive thermal oscillation Microgravity Combustion Workshop was held in Cleveland, behavior in a premixed fuel-oxidizer mixture. The PECASE, the Ohio, May 18–20, 1999, and was attended by 280 scientists and highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government to scientists and engineers from around the world. The workshop briefed potential engineers, was created to recognize exceptional potential for lead- investigators on the opportunity to respond to the 1999 NASA ership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge. Research Announcement for combustion science (99-HEDS-04) and focused on research opportunities that will soon be enabled by the International Space Station (ISS). Current ground-based Flight Experiments and flight investigators presented research results to date in 16 Nineteen flight investigations were funded in fiscal year sessions during the three-day workshop. The proceedings of this (FY) 1999. Additionally, a number of flight system designs were workshop are available online at initiated in an effort to work toward achieving research goals http://www.ncmr.org/events/combustion1999.html. aboard the ISS. Experimental verification of material flammability in space research was conducted as an international cooperative project Meetings, Awards, and Publications aboard the Russian space station, Mir. The flammability of selected Merrill King, of NASA Headquarters, and Jose Torero, of U.S.–supplied plastic materials was tested under microgravity in the University of Maryland, chaired two microgravity combus- a Russia-supplied combustion tunnel operated on the space station. tion sessions of the 37th Aerospace Sciences Meeting in Reno, Reference testing of the flammability, heat release, thermal prop- Nevada, in January 1999. Sixteen papers on combustion science erties, and combustion products of identical materials was con- research were presented. ducted in ground laboratories at both the Russian Keldysh Howard Ross, of Glenn Research Center (GRC), and Frank Research Center and at Johnson Space Center’s White Sands Test Schowengerdt, of the Center for Commercial Applications of Facility. The Mir tests were conducted on samples of three different Combustion in Space, chaired the microgravity combustion session materials: Delrin (polyacetal), PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate), of the 1999 Space Technology and Applications International and high-density polyethylene. Postflight ground tests were per- Forum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in January 1999. Five formed at Keldysh and at White Sands using on-orbit atmospheric papers on combustion science research and hardware capabilities oxygen levels as comparative data points. All three materials were presented. showed a limiting velocity, defined as the minimum velocity below which flame propagation is not possible. Polyethylene A special issue of Combustion and Flame was devoted to burned rapidly and smoothly. Combustion of Delrin and PMMA microgravity combustion research. The issue included results samples was less steady, with melting and particle ejection. All from the first Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL–1) mission, samples showed a limiting air velocity for flame propagation on flown in April and July 1997; from a Get Away Special Canister the order of 0.3 to 0.5 cm/s. These data and their corrections for experiment on smoldering; and from ground-based facilities. the variable Mir oxygen concentrations have been reported by the The cover of the January 1999 issue of Physics Today high- Keldysh investigators. lighted a picture of “fingering” in combustion. The image was FY 1999 signaled the transition from space research conducted followed by a two-page article. The article prominently referenced on short-duration microgravity platforms to planning for research research conducted by Takashi Kashiwagi, of the National to be conducted aboard the permanently inhabited ISS. Preparations Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and Sandra Olson, for conducting combustion research on the station were comple- of GRC, in the Radiative Ignition and Transition to Flame mented by the readying of the Combustion Module-2 hardware Spread Investigation. In addition, modeling work on flame front for launch aboard a shuttle SPACEHAB mission in early 2001. cellularity and development of instabilities in combustion in porous The Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR), the first of three racks media by Bernard Matkowsky, of Northwestern University, was that will make up the Fluids and Combustion Facility on the ISS, referenced and discussed. This work was also funded by the continued to undergo design and development towards its 2003 microgravity combustion science program. launch. To effectively utilize the capabilities of the CIR, two In a White House ceremony, Howard Pearlman, a resident insert apparatus devices are also progressing through the flight researcher in the GRC Microgravity Science Division and assistant system design phase. professor at the University of Southern California, was awarded a One of these devices, the Multiuser Droplet Combustion Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers Apparatus (MDCA), will be the first research payload in the CIR. (PECASE) in recognition of his research on the combustion of The MDCA, which is capable of supporting four investigations 19 simultaneously, entered its preliminary design stage in FY 1999. very low induced air velocity. SIBAL will determine the Multiuser hardware such as the MDCA allows more effective spread rate dependence and limiting conditions for spread. resource utilization of the ISS and the CIR; this hardware will • The Transition From Ignition to Flame Growth Under remain available for use with new investigations that may be pro- External Radiation in Three Dimensions (TIGER-3D) posed in the future. The following four investigations have been investigation is led by Takashi Kashiwagi, of NIST. TIGER-3D identified as the initial set of research experiments to use the is a study of the transition from momentary ignition to flame combined capabilities of the CIR and MDCA systems: spread. By studying radiatively ignited fuels, the conditions • The goals of the Droplet Combustion Experiment-2 (DCE-2), that control the onset of flame spread or extinction will be conceived by Forman Williams, of the University of determined. California, San Diego, and Frederick Dryer, of Princeton • The Flammability Diagrams of Combustible Materials in University, are to study combustion kinetics relevant to Microgravity (FIST) investigation, guided by Carlos droplet combustion, controlling mechanisms in droplet Fernandez-Pello, of the University of California, Berkeley, burning (transient and quasisteady), radiative heat loss, is a study of the ignitability of practical materials. FIST will and extinction phenomena. extend NASA’s current pass/fail acceptance program for • The Bi-Component Droplet Combustion Experiment spacecraft materials to the consideration of the limiting (BCDCE), conceived by Benjamin Shaw, of the University conditions for ignitability of materials. of California, Davis, will study bi-component fuel droplets • The Radiative Enhancement Effects on Flame Spread where spherical symmetry is approached in the gas and liquid (REEFS) investigation is headed by Paul Ronney, of the phases. BCDCE will result in a better understanding of tran- University of Southern California. REEFS is a study of the sient behaviors between liquid and gas interfaces in droplets radiative participation of combustion product gases in flame that are composed of two components with different boiling spread. The hot gas above the flame can participate in the and capillary properties. flame spread, depending upon the radiative properties of the • The Sooting and Radiation Effects in Droplet Combustion gases. This research is relevant for spacecraft fire safety, since Experiment, conceived by Mun Choi, of Drexel University, carbon dioxide, which is used to extinguish fires, is a strong is designed to study the effects of sooting and radiation influ- absorber and emitter in the infrared. ences on the overall burning behavior of droplets by means • The Investigation of Diffusion Flame Tip Thermo-Diffusive of optical and intrusive techniques. Investigation results will and Hydrodynamic Instability Under Microgravity Conditions improve our understanding of soot processes, thermophoresis, experiment, led by Indrek Wichman, of Michigan State and radiative feedback from the flame to the fuel surface. University, studies flame spread at the limits of breakup of • The Dynamics of Droplet Combustion and Extinction the flame tip into smaller flamelets. Existence of these Experiment (DDCE), conceived by Vedha Nayagam, of the flamelets represents the limiting conditions for flame spread. National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and The FY 1999 ground and flight tasks for combustion science Combustion, will study the effects of small convective flows are listed in Table 6. Further details on these tasks may be found on burning droplets and better define the effects of flow on in the complementary document Microgravity Science and the burning and extinction process. DDCE is relevant to Applications Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1999, available practical combustors in which droplets are always injected online at http://microgravity.hq.nasa.gov/research.htm. with nonzero velocities. Work on the preliminary design for the second insert for the CIR, the Flow Enclosure Accommodating Novel Investigations in Combustion of Solids (FEANICS) apparatus, has been initiated and will result in a platform well-suited to the study of ignition and flammability limits of thin and thick solid materials. These investigations have direct applicability to terrestrial and spacecraft fire safety and will be focused on the phenomena of combustion of solid materials. Such investigations are highly relevant to the understanding of ignition, flammability, and the extinction of fires over real materials and are crucial to the increased understanding of terrestrial and spacecraft fire safety activities. The following five investigations are currently under consideration for selection for the initial research experiments in the FEANICS: • The Solid Inflammability Boundary at Low Speed (SIBAL) investigation, by James T’ien, of Case Western Reserve University, is a study of flame spread under conditions of 0 Table 6 Combustion Science Tasks Funded by the Microgravity Research Division in FY 1999 (includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

Flight Experiments Transport and Chemical Effects on Concurrent- and Opposed-Flow Flame Spread at Microgravity Flame Design — A Novel Approach to Clean, Efficient Diffusion Flames Paul D. Ronney Richard L. Axelbaum University of Southern California; Los Angeles, CA Washington University; St. Louis, MO Ignition and Flame Spread of Liquid Fuel Pools Gravitational Effects on Laminar, Transitional, and Turbulent Gas Jet Diffusion Howard D. Ross Flames Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH M. Y. Bahadori Science and Technology Development Corporation Combustion Experiments in Reduced Gravity With Two-Component Miscible Droplets Los Angeles, CA Benjamin D. Shaw University of California, Davis; Davis, CA Experiments and Model Development for Investigation of Sooting and Radiation Effects in Microgravity Droplet Combustion Combustion of Solid Fuel in Very Low-Speed Oxygen Streams Mun Y. Choi James S. T’ien University of Illinois; Chicago, IL Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH Candle Flames in Microgravity Investigation of Diffusion Flame Tip Instability in Microgravity Daniel L. Dietrich Indrek S. Wichman Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH Michigan State University; East Lansing, MI Investigation of Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames in Microgravity: A Paradigm for Soot Droplet Combustion Experiment Processes in Turbulent Flames Forman A. Williams Gerard M. Faeth University of California, San Diego; La Jolla, CA University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI Flammability Diagrams of Combustible Materials in Microgravity Ground-Based Experiments A. Carlos Fernandez-Pello University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA Effects of Energy Release on Near-Field Flow Structure of Gas Jets Ajay K. Agrawal Fundamental Study of Smoldering Combustion in Microgravity University of Oklahoma; Norman, OK A. Carlos Fernandez-Pello University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA Formation of Carbon Nanotubes in a Microgravity Environment John M. Alford Combustion Characteristics of Fully Modulated, Turbulent Diffusion Flames in TDA Research, Inc.; Wheat Ridge, CO Reduced Gravity James C. Hermanson Radiant Extinction of Gaseous Diffusion Flames Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Worcester, MA Arvind Atreya University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI Ignition and the Subsequent Transition to Flame Spread in Microgravity Takashi Kashiwagi High-Pressure Combustion of an Unsupported, Sooting Fuel Droplet in Microgravity National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD C. T. Avedisian Cornell University; Ithaca, NY Structure and Response of Spherical Diffusion Flames Chung K. Law Multicomponent Droplet Combustion in Microgravity: Soot Formation, Emulsions, Princeton University; Princeton, NJ Metal-Based Additives, and the Effect of Initial Droplet Diameter C. T. Avedisian Dynamics of Droplet Extinction in Slow Convective Flows Cornell University; Ithaca, NY Vedha Nayagam National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and Gas-Phase Combustion Synthesis of Metal and Ceramic Nanoparticles Combustion; Cleveland, OH Richard L. Axelbaum Washington University; St. Louis, MO The High–Lewis Number Diffusive-Thermal Instability in Premixed Gas Combustion and Low-Temperature Hydrocarbon Oxidation and Cool Flames Carbon Monoxide and Soot Formation in Inverse Diffusion Flames Howard G. Pearlman Linda G. Blevins Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD Studies of Premixed Laminar and Turbulent Flames at Microgravity Combustion of Metals in Reduced-Gravity and Extraterrestrial Environments Paul D. Ronney Melvyn C. Branch University of Southern California; Los Angeles, CA University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO 21 Ignition and Combustion of Bulk Metals in Microgravity Quantitative Studies on the Propagation and Extinction of Near-Limit Flames Under Melvyn C. Branch Normal and Microgravity University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO Fokion N. Egolfopoulos University of Southern California; Los Angeles, CA A Numerical Model for Combustion of Bubbling Thermoplastic Materials in Microgravity Effects of Gravity on Sheared and Nonsheared Turbulent, Nonpremixed Flames Kathryn M. Butler Said E. Elghobashi National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA Heterogeneous Combustion of Porous Solid Fuel Particles Under Microgravity: A Flow/Soot Formation in Nonbuoyant, Laminar Diffusion Flames Comprehensive Theoretical and Experimental Study Gerard M. Faeth Harsha K. Chelliah University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA Soot Processes in Freely Propagating, Laminar Premixed Flames Numerical Study of Buoyancy and Differential Diffusion Effects on the Structure and Gerard M. Faeth Dynamics of Triple Flames University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI Jyh-Yuan Chen University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA Thickness Effects on Fuel Flammability Paul Ferkul Buoyancy Effects on the Structure and Stability of Burke-Schumann Diffusion Flames National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and L.- D. Chen Combustion; Cleveland, OH University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA Large Eddy Simulation of Gravitational Effects on Transitional and Turbulent Gas Jet Reflight of Enclosed Laminar Flames Investigation Diffusion Flames L.- D. Chen Peyman Givi University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA State University of New York; Buffalo, NY Gravitational Effects on Premixed Turbulent Flames: Microgravity Flame Structures Studies on the Behavior of Highly Preheated Air Flames in Microgravity Robert K. Cheng Ashwani K. Gupta Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Berkeley, CA University of Maryland, College Park; College Park, MD Investigation of Strain/Vorticity and Large-Scale Flow Structure in Turbulent, The Extinction of Low–Strain Rate Diffusion Flames by an Agent in Microgravity Nonpremixed Jet Flames Anthony Hamins Noel T. Clemens National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD University of Texas; Austin, TX Characteristics of Nonpremixed Turbulent Flames in Microgravity Turbulent Flame Processes via Vortex Ring–Diffusion Flame Interaction Uday Hegde Werner J. Dahm National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI Combustion; Cleveland, OH Combustion of Interacting Droplet Arrays in a Microgravity Environment Combustion Synthesis of Fullerenes and Fullerenic Nanostructures in Microgravity Daniel L. Dietrich Jack B. Howard Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA Interaction of Burning Metal Particles Quantitative Interpretation of Optical Emission Sensors for Microgravity Experiments Edward L. Dreizin Jay B. Jeffries New Jersey Institute of Technology; Newark, NJ SRI International; Menlo Park, CA Flame Vortex Interactions in Microgravity to Assess the Theory of Flame Stretch Real-Time, Quantitative, Three-Dimensional Imaging of Diffusion Flame Species James F. Driscoll Daniel J. Kane University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI Southwest Sciences, Inc.; Santa Fe, NM Applications of Electric Field in Microgravity Combustion The Impact of Buoyancy and Flame Structure on Soot, Radiation, and NOx Emissions Derek Dunn-Rankin From a Turbulent Diffusion Flame University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA Ian M. Kennedy University of California, Davis; Davis, CA Aerodynamic, Unsteady, Kinetic, and Heat Loss Effects on the Dynamics and Structure of Weakly Burning Flames in Microgravity Aerodynamics and Chemical Kinetics of Premixed Flames at High Pressures Fokion N. Egolfopoulos Chung K. Law University of Southern California; Los Angeles, CA Princeton University; Princeton, NJ Detailed Studies on the Structure and Dynamics of Reacting Dusty Flows at Normal Computational and Experimental Study of Laminar Diffusion Flames in a and Microgravity Microgravity Environment Fokion N. Egolfopoulos Marshall B. Long University of Southern California; Los Angeles, CA Yale University; New Haven, CT 2 Dynamics of Liquid Propellant Combustion at Reduced Gravity Combustion of Han-Based Monopropellant Droplets in Reduced Gravity Stephen B. Margolis Benjamin D. Shaw Sandia National Laboratories; Livermore, CA University of California, Davis; Davis, CA Filtration Combustion for Microgravity Applications: (1) Smoldering, (2) Combustion Quantitative Species Measurements in Microgravity Combustion Flames Synthesis of Advanced Materials — PHASE 2 Joel A. Silver Bernard J. Matkowsky Southwest Sciences, Inc.; Santa Fe, NM Northwestern University; Evanston, IL Acoustically Forced, Condensed-Phase Fuel Combustion Under Microgravity Conditions Simulation of Combustion Systems With Realistic G-Jitter Owen I. Smith William E. Mell University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD Computational and Experimental Study of Energetic Materials in a Counterflow Gravitational Influences on Flame Propagation Through Nonuniform, Premixed Gas Microgravity Environment Systems (Layers) Mitchell D. Smooke Fletcher J. Miller Yale University; New Haven, CT National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and Combustion; Cleveland, OH Combustion of Rotating, Spherical, Premixed, and Diffusion Flames in Microgravity Siavash H. Sohrab A Fundamental Study of the Combustion Synthesis of Ceramic-Metal Composite Northwestern University; Evanston, IL Materials Under Microgravity Conditions — Phase III: Effect of Gravity on the Combustion Synthesis of Advanced, Engineered, Porous Materials Investigation of Velocity and Temperature in Microgravity Laminar Jet Diffusion John J. Moore Flames Colorado School of Mines; Golden, CO Peter B. Sunderland National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and Kinetics and Structure of Superagglomerates Produced by Silane and Acetylene Combustion; Cleveland, OH George Mulholland National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD Reaction Kernel Structure and Diffusion Flame Stabilization Fumiaki Takahashi Stretched Diffusion Flames in Von Karman Swirling Flows University of Dayton Research Center; Dayton, OH Vedha Nayagam National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and Diffusion Flame Structure, Shape, and Extinction: Geometrical Considerations Combustion; Cleveland, OH Jose L. Torero University of Maryland, College Park; College Park, MD Low-Stretch Diffusion Flames Over a Solid Fuel Sandra L. Olson The Synthesis of Graphite-Encapsulated Metal Nanoparticles and Metal Catalytic Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH Nanotubes Randall L. Vander Wal Gravitational Effects on Partially Premixed Flames Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH Ishwar K. Puri University of Illinois; Chicago, IL Laser Velocimeter for Studies of Microgravity Combustion Flowfields Philip Varghese Hyperspectral Imaging of Flame Spread Over Solid Fuel Surfaces Using Adaptive University of Texas, Austin; Austin, TX Fabry-Perot Filters W. T. Rawlins Mechanistic Studies of Combustion and Structure Formation During Synthesis of Physical Sciences, Inc.; Andover, MA Advanced Materials Arvind Varma Development of Methods for Producing and Utilizing Alternate Fuel/Oxidizer University of Notre Dame; Notre Dame, IN Combinations Associated With Mars to Support ISRU-Based Propulsion and Power Systems High-Pressure Combustion of Binary Fuel Sprays Forman A. Williams Eric E. Rice University of California, San Diego; La Jolla, CA Orbital Technologies Corporation; Madison, WI Combustion of Individual Bubbles and Submerged Gas Jets in Liquid Fuels Daniel E. Rosner Yale University; New Haven, CT Combustion of Unconfined Droplet Clusters in Microgravity Gary A. Ruff Drexel University; Philadelphia, PA Flame Spreading and Extinction in Partial-Gravity Environments Kurt R. Sacksteder Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH 23 Fluid Physics

Fluid physics is the study of the motion of fluids and the a major role in many of the research and technology development effects of such motion. Since of the four states of matter, three needs identified for exploration of Mars. The Microgravity Research (gas, liquid, and plasma) are fluid, and even the fourth (solid) Division (MRD) has developed specific performance goals that behaves like a fluid under many conditions, fluid physics encom- support these needs. The performance goals, which represent passes a wide spectrum of industrial and natural processes and new opportunities for the microgravity fluid physics and trans- phenomena. Fluid motion is responsible for most of the transport port phenomena community, are listed below: and mixing that take place in the environment, in industrial 1. Advance the state of knowledge sufficiently to enable dust processes, in vehicles, and in living organisms. The ultimate goal control technologies and bulk material handling for extrater- of research in fluid physics is to improve our ability to predict and restrial habitats and/or in-situ resource utilization. control the behavior of fluids in all of the above instances so as to 2. Advance the state of knowledge sufficiently to allow devel- improve our ability to design devices and operate them. Fluid opment of reliable and efficient heat transfer technologies for motion, in most situations, is strongly influenced by gravity. The space and extraterrestrial operations. low-gravity environment of space offers a powerful research tool for the study of fluid physics, enabling the observation and control 3. Advance the state of knowledge sufficiently to allow devel- of fluid phenomena in ways not possible on Earth. Experiments opment of effective fluid management technology for space conducted in this environment have clearly demonstrated the and extraterrestrial and industrial applications. value of microgravity by revealing results that are either completely 4. Establish the knowledge base required to design chemical unexpected or unobservable in Earth’s gravitational field. These process systems for exploration missions. results are providing new insight into the behavior of fluids in Some of the highlights of microgravity fluid physics research terrestrial environments. conducted in space as well as on Earth in FY 1999 are included The microgravity fluid physics program currently has four below. major research areas: complex fluids, interfacial phenomena, • Physics Today, the monthly magazine of the American dynamics and instabilities, and multiphase flows and phase Institute of Physics, featured as its cover story an article change. There are 90 ground-based and 21 flight/flight-definition authored by microgravity fluid physics PIs Alice Gast, of principal investigators (PIs) conducting experimental research Stanford University, and William Russel, of Princeton and developing the theoretical framework for understanding the University. The article appeared in the December 1998 issue. effects of gravity on processes involving fluids. Work in complex Titled “Simple Ordering in Complex Fluids: Colloidal fluids covers colloids, foams, granular media, rheology of non- Particles Suspended in Solution Provide Intriguing Models Newtonian fluids, and emulsions and suspensions. Interfacial for Studying Phase Transitions,” the article reports findings phenomena include liquid-vapor interface configurations, contact of spaceflight experiments as well as ground-based work line dynamics, capillary-driven flows, and the shape stability and sponsored by the microgravity fluid physics program. breakup of liquid bridges and drops. Dynamics and instabilities Results from the Colloidal Disorder-Order Transition include thermocapillary and thermosolutal flows, biofluid glovebox investigation and the Physics of Hard Spheres mechanics, geological fluid flows, pattern formation, and electro- Experiment were prominently cited, and photographs of kinetics and electrochemistry. Multiphase flows and phase change colloidal crystals formed in space were included. include flow patterns in liquid-vapor/gas flows in microgravity, nucleate boiling and its control using acoustic and electric fields • Bruce Ackerson, of Oklahoma State University, has filed a in microgravity, and flows of gas-solid and liquid-solid mixtures patent application titled “A Fiber-Optic Multiple Scattering Suppression Device.” The patent is based on work performed in microgravity. under an MRD-funded grant. The invention provides a A total of 297 proposals were received in response to the method and apparatus for estimating single scattering func- NASA Research Announcement for microgravity fluid physics tions, particularly in concentrated solutions. The instant (98-HEDS-03) that was released in November 1998. The proposals method utilizes two light detectors that are spatially and/or are undergoing peer review, and selections are to be made in early angularly separated which simultaneously record the speckle fiscal year (FY) 2000. A listing of all of the fluid physics grants, pattern from a single sample. The recorded patterns from along with the PIs who received them, is provided in Table 7. two detectors are then cross-correlated at zero-lag to produce NASA is in the process of defining a strategy for exploring one point on a composite single/multiple scattering function Mars and other planets in the “better, faster, and cheaper” frame- curve. By collecting and analyzing cross-correlation mea- work. These missions pose considerable challenges, in that they surements that have been taken at a plurality of different require humans and associated life support systems to be subjected spatial/angular positions, the signal representative of single to prolonged exposure to microgravity during the interplanetary scattering may be differentiated from the signal representative transit phase, and to reduced gravity while on the planet’s surface. of multiple scattering, and a near-optimum detector angle As one might expect, fluid physics and transport phenomena play for use in taking future measurements can be determined. 4 The technique is used for measuring colloid particle size in molar concentration of 0.015 of 2-propanol in water, where concentrated solutions, where multiple scattering confounds the surface tension gradient is highest among the concentra- measurements. tions tested, the critical heat flux is a factor of three greater • K.R. Sridhar, of the University of Arizona, is developing than that of pure water for similar conditions under normal solid oxide electrolysis (zirconia cells), which is one of the gravity. Models of pool boiling heat transfer and the critical leading concepts for producing oxygen from the Mars heat flux condition for binary mixtures are tested to correlate atmosphere for propulsion and life support needs. A proof- the data. Comparison of boiling curves and critical heat flux of-concept experiment investigating this process is manifested obtained at different orientations of the heater surface indicates to fly on the Mars 2001 lander as part of an in-situ resource that there is a strong gravity-independent mechanism of utilization demonstration experiment. In this process, the boiling heat transfer in these mixtures. This finding makes predominantly carbon dioxide atmosphere of Mars is used as binary mixtures attractive for microgravity applications. Carey a feed gas to produce oxygen and carbon monoxide. The is continuing work to develop an improved understanding oxygen produced is separated as a 100 percent pure product of this phenomenon at a microscale level. by the zirconia electrolyte, using solid state ionic conduction. • Mark McDowell and Thomas Glasgow, both of Glenn A laser texturing method was adopted to increase the surface Research Center (GRC), have been awarded a U.S. patent for the area of the cells and to control the dimensions of the valleys Stereo Imaging Velocimetry technique developed under the and peaks. Tests show a marked improvement in the perfor- Advanced Technology Development (ATD) program. The mance of cells using a laser-textured surface. technique provides a full-field, quantitative, three-dimensional • John Goree, of the University of Iowa, and German colleagues map of any optically transparent fluid that is seeded with led by Gregor Morfill, at the Max Planck Institute Für tracer particles. This technique has been applied to track the Extraterrestrische Physik, discovered a new phenomenon: motion of the flame balls in the Structure of Flame Balls at mach cones in a dusty plasma. Dusty plasma consists of Low Lewis Number experiment, which flew on the first highly charged monodisperse microspheres levitated in a Microgravity Science Laboratory mission (MSL–1). charge-neutral laboratory plasma. The researchers are using • A patent application for “Microfluidic Controller and this system as a physical model to study the microscopic Microvalve” has been filed by Alice Gast, of Stanford structure and dynamics during the melting transition University, and her research team. The patent represents a between crystalline and liquid phases in two-dimensional method for synthesizing permanently linked monodisperse ground-based experiments and three-dimensional micro- paramagnetic chains by both covalently linking surface- gravity experiments. The newly discovered mach cones are functionalized polystyrene particles and physically linking shock waves produced by an object moving faster than the electrostatically stabilized paramagnetic emulsion droplets. speed of sound through the dusty plasma. They are like the These anisotropic magnetoresponsive materials should be of V-shaped shock cones produced in gas dynamics by a super- interest for their unique rheological, optical, electronic, and sonic aircraft. In this case, the relevant sound speed is the micromechanical properties. Stanford has elected to retain speed of compressional waves in the suspension of ‘dust,’ or the title for this invention. particulates. The spacing between particles is compressed by • Robert Behringer, of Duke University, reported a key finding: the shock wave, and the charge on the dust particles, due to the existence of a well-defined strengthening/softening tran- exposure to a plasma, provides an interparticle repulsion, sition in the dynamic behavior of two-dimensional granular which leads to a sound propagation at a very low velocity of systems. Experiments on a slowly sheared two-dimensional typically a few centimeters per second. granular material show a continuous transition as the packing • Harry Swinney, of the University of Texas Center for fraction passes through a critical value of 0.776. The mean Nonlinear Dynamics, authored a chapter titled “Emergence stress plays the role of an order parameter. As the packing and Evolution of Patterns” in the book Critical Problems in fraction approaches this critical value from above, (1) the Physics. Swinney reports on findings from his work funded compressibility becomes large, (2) a slowing down of the by a NASA microgravity fluid physics grant on “Surface mean velocity occurs, (3) the force distributions change, and Tension–Driven Convection” in this book. (4) the network of stress chains changes from intermittent • Van Carey, of the University of California, Berkeley, has suc- long radial chains near the critical packing fraction to a tangled, cessfully demonstrated the effectiveness of using Marangoni dense network for larger packing fractions. This finding has effects to enhance pool boiling using binary liquid mixtures. potential for significant impact in understanding the spatial The data obtained in this investigation imply that the character of stress chains in granular media. Marangoni effects arising from the surface tension gradients • The August 1999 issue of Notices of the American due to concentration gradients are an active mechanism in Mathematical Society includes the feature article “Capillary the boiling of binary mixtures such as 2-propanol/water. At a Surface Interfaces” by Robert Finn, of Stanford University, a 25 co-investigator funded by the Microgravity Research The first international workshop on “Scientific Research Program. The colorful images on the front cover show Against Sand Encroachment” was held in Medenine, Tunisia, results from the Interfacial Configuration Experiment glove- April 19–24, 1999. The meeting gathered American, Danish, box investigation, conducted on the second United States French, German, Icelandic, Mauritanian, Moroccan, and Microgravity Laboratory (USML–2) mission and on the Tunisian scientists from disciplines ranging from geology to engi- Russian space station, Mir, along with data obtained from neering and physics. Funding for the non-African participants the GRC drop tower. Capillary action is governed by highly was provided by CNRS (France’s national research organization), nonlinear equations. Some recently discovered formal conse- NASA, and the National Science Foundation. The organization quences of these equations are at variance with predictions of the meeting was shared by CNRS and Tunisia’s Institute des from formal expansions, and experiments were conducted Regions Arides (Institute of Arid Regions). Fluid physics PI on NASA and Mir flights to determine what actually occurs. James Jenkins, of Cornell University, led a scientific contingent The article sketches the history of the problems, some of the from the United States. The present understanding of dune for- current theory, and relevant experimental results. Paul mation and migration was reviewed, and several phenomena critical to the problems of sand encroachment and desertification Concus, of the University of California, Berkeley, is the PI were identified as requiring improved understanding, including for this project, and Mark Weislogel, formerly of GRC, was grain transport in extremely high winds, the onset and run-out of also a co-investigator for these investigations. intermittent avalanches, and the percolation and evaporation of • Research conducted by Noel Clark, of the University of water in sand. A second conference is planned for 2001 in Colorado, was featured on the cover of the June 1999 Journal Mauritania. Fluid physics PI Michel Louge, of Cornell of Materials Chemistry, published by the Royal Society of University, also participated and presented a paper. Chemistry. The accompanying article is titled “The Case of A conference titled “Interfaces for the Twenty-First Thresholdless Antiferroelectricity: Polarization-Stabilized Century: New Research Directions in Fluid Mechanics and Twisted Smc* Liquid Crystals Give V-Shaped Electro-Optic Materials Science” was held August 16–18, 1999, in Monterey, Response.” California. Many fluid physics PIs played key roles in the conference. This conference was also an opportunity to highlight and celebrate the contributions to interface research in fluid Meetings, Awards, and Publications mechanics and materials science made by Stephen Davis, of The 1998 Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Northwestern University, on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Chemical Engineers featured a special session titled Davis is a fluid physics PI and past chair of the microgravity “Fundamental Research Fluid Mechanics II.” The session hon- fluid physics discipline working group. ored the 70th birthday of microgravity fluid physics PI Andrea Rafat Ansari, of the National Center for Microgravity Acrivos, of the City College of the City University of New York, Research on Fluids and Combustion (NCMRFC) at GRC, was on November 18, 1998. This special session was chaired by Gary awarded the NASA Public Service Medal on September 13, 1999, Leal, of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Robert at the NASA Honor Award ceremony at GRC. Ansari was hon- Davis, of the University of Colorado, both fluid physics PIs. ored for “pioneering work in the use of a compact, fiber optic–based, laser light–scattering probe for the detection and Harry Swinney, of the University of Texas Center for prevention of eye diseases.” The basis for this compact fiber-optic Nonlinear Dynamics, was elected fellow of the American probe technology was developed for spaceflight experiments Association for the Advancement of Science in January 1999. under the ATD program. This probe is currently being used at Swinney is also a member of the microgravity fluid physics disci- the National Institutes of Health for human clinical trials for the pline advisory group. treatment of cataracts and at the Federal Drug Administration Nancy Hall, of GRC, was selected to receive the 1999 on animal models for diabetes research. National Society of Black Engineers Pre-College Community John Brady, professor of chemical engineering and executive Service Award. The award was presented during the second officer for chemical engineering at the California Institute of annual Golden Torch Awards Ceremony on March 26, 1999, in Technology, was elected to the National Academy of Engineering Kansas City, Missouri. The Golden Torch Award Ceremony is (NAE). NAE membership is one of the highest professional dis- the premier award and recognition program for African-American tinctions accorded engineers, honoring those who have made engineers, scientists, and technologists. The primary goal of the “important contributions to engineering theory and practice, award is to recognize excellence among African-American tech- including significant contributions to the literature of engineering nical professionals; corporate, government, and academic leaders; theory and practice” and those who have demonstrated “unusual and university and pre-college students. Hall’s extensive commit- accomplishments in the pioneering of new and developing fields ment and dedicated service to the pre-college student and teaching of technology.” communities through numerous educational outreach activities Peter Wayner, of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was were the basis for her nomination for this award. awarded the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ Heat 6 Transfer and Energy Conversion Division Award at the at the NCMRFC web site, November 1998 meeting in Miami, Florida. The award recognizes http://www.ncmr.org/events/fluid-annc.html. an individual’s outstanding chemical engineering contributions Microgravity fluid physics PIs published numerous papers in and achievement in heat transfer or energy conversion. prestigious journals, such as Science, Nature, the Journal of Fluid Andrea Prosperetti, of Johns Hopkins University, was Mechanics, Physical Review Letters, Physical Review, Langmuir, appointed associate editor of the International Journal of Multiphase Physics of Fluids, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Flow and to the editorial board of the Physics of Fluids journal. and the Journal of Colloids and Interface Science. A paper in the area of fluid physics has been selected for the The following meetings and conferences of note also took 1998 GRC Distinguished Publication Award. The paper is titled place during FY 1999: “Equilibration Near the Liquid-Vapor Critical Point in Microgravity.” The authors are Allen Wilkinson, of GRC; Meeting/Conference Date Gregory Zimmerli, of NCMRFC; Michael Moldover and Robert American Society of Mechanical June 1998 Berg, both of the National Institute of Standards and Technology; Engineers’ Fluids Engineering Conference William Johnson, of Westminster College; and Hong Hao, Richard Ferrell, and Robert Gammon, all of the University of National Heat Transfer Conference August 1998 Maryland. The paper reports the results of a spaceflight experiment 11th International Heat Transfer Conference August 1998 that was the first to measure and verify the hypothesized density changes associated with late-stage thermal equilibration near the American Physical Society’s Fluid November 1998 liquid-vapor critical point. The results are the closest ever to the Dynamics Meeting critical point by nearly two orders of magnitude and approach within 1.4 millikelvins. The experiment was performed on the American Institute of Chemical November 1998 first International Microgravity Laboratory (IML–1) mission in Engineers’ Annual Meeting January 1992. American Society of Mechanical November 1998 Jeffrey Allen, of NCMRFC, was awarded the 1998 Manuel Engineers’ International Mechanical Luan Jr. Student Paper Award at the Space Technology and Engineering Congress and Exhibition Applications International Forum in Albuquerque, New Mexico. American Institute of Aeronautics January 1999 The award recognized his paper titled “A Study of the and Astronautics’ Microgravity Science and Fundamental Operation of a Capillary-Driven Heat Transfer Space Processing Meeting Device in Both Normal and Low Gravity, Part I: Liquid Slug Formation in Low Gravity.” His co-author and academic adviser Space Technology and Applications January 1999 is Kevin Hallinan, of the University of Dayton. The paper is International Forum — First Conference on Application of Thermophysics in Microgravity based on results obtained from the Capillary Heat Transfer glovebox investigation, which was carried out on MSL–1 in April Interfaces for the Twenty-First Century, August 1999 and June 1997. The experiments were performed by Payload New Research Directions in Fluid Mechanics Specialist Roger Crouch, of NASA headquarters. and Materials Science Simon Ostrach, director of NCMRFC, organized and hosted Microgravity Fluid Physics and Heat Transfer Meeting September 1999 the first meeting of the Industry Liaison Board, which was chaired by William Ballhaus Jr., vice president of science and engineering at Lockheed Martin. The membership of the Industry Liaison Board consists of 12 vice president–level repre- Flight Experiments sentatives of a number of leading U.S. corporations. The board The Internal Flow in a Free Drop (IFFD) glovebox inves- was briefed on the technical content of the microgravity combustion tigation was conducted on STS-95 in October 1998. The crew science and fluid physics programs and asked to provide feedback was successful in deploying and manipulating the acoustically on how these programs can better benefit industry. The board positioned drops. Good video images with optimal resolution of the internal tracer particles will allow the accurate measurement was “pleasantly surprised at the breadth, depth, and quality of of the internal motion of the liquid. The first demonstration of microgravity science.” They also made a number of recommen- noncontact fissioning of a single drop into two parts was dations to strengthen ties with industry. obtained with a static sound field. In addition, the new technique NCMRFC has organized a lecture series on fluid physics for accurate, acoustically assisted drop deployment in microgravity and transport phenomena. The lectures will address topics of has been verified together with the feasibility of quiescently posi- increasing importance to microgravity and industrial research, tioning a partially wetted drop at the end of a sting. A preliminary and are intended to broaden the perspective of attendees and pro- review of the flight tapes indicated that thermocapillary flows vide a basis for further work on these more modern aspects of were clearly observed within a free drop in microgravity. Clear fluid mechanics. Information and online registration are available evidence of an increase in the internal circulation in the drop has 27 been detected as the sting heater was activated in the vicinity of experiment to be carried out on the International Space Station the drop. Further analysis of the data is continuing. The PI for (ISS). This experiment will be conducted in the Expedite IFFD is Satwindar Sadhal, of the University of Southern Processing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack, California, and the co-investigator is Eugene Trinh, formerly of located in the U.S. Laboratory Module. The scientific goals of this the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. experiment are to study fundamental colloid physics questions, The Growth and Morphology of Supercritical Fluids colloid engineering (using colloids as precursors for the fabrication (GMSF) experiment, also known as Growth and Morphology, of novel materials), and the properties of new materials and their Boiling, and Critical Fluctuations in Phase-Separating precursors. Weitz and Pusey plan to conduct tests on eight colloid Supercritical Fluids, is a collaborative experiment between the samples of selected binary colloidal crystals, colloid/polymer mix- United States and France that was run in the French Alice-II tures (gels and crystals), and fractal colloidal gels. The flight facility on the Russian space station, Mir, from 1998 to 1999. The experiment hardware has been assembled, and system verification American PI is John Hegseth, of the University of New Orleans. testing has been initiated. All the science diagnostic operations, The French co-investigators are Daniel Beysens, of the French which include fiber dynamic and static light scattering, Bragg Atomic Energy Commission in Grenoble, France, and Yves imaging, and low-angle imaging dynamic and static light scattering, Garrabos, of the University of Bordeaux. GMSF consists of three have been performed with the flight system and on the flight samples. experiments. One experiment distinguished two growth rate laws The experiment is completing the final verifications and prepara- that depend on the density deviation from the critical point standard tions for shipment to Kennedy Space Center for rack integration state and the size of the temperature step in going from a one-phase and integrated rack testing. PCS is scheduled to be launched on fluid to a two-phase fluid. A second experiment examined rapid ISS assembly flight 6A. interface dynamics when going from a two-phase state to a one-phase Preparation is under way for the third flight of the Mechanics state (supercritical boiling) using the same fluid as the first experi- of Granular Materials (MGM-III) experiment. The PI is Stein ment. The third experiment sought to quantify the randomness of Sture, of the University of Colorado, Boulder. A total of nine very density fluctuation structures that are smaller than the “correlation successful triaxial compression experiments were performed on length” very close to the liquid-vapor critical density and tempera- dry sand specimens during the STS-79 (September 1996) and ture. This experiment was conducted over a 20-day period. The STS-89 (January 1998) missions. The results have generated great first experiment was successful and is under analysis. The second interest in related scientific and engineering communities. In experiment revealed differences from previous low-gravity experi- October 1999, MGM received the authority to proceed for another ments, and results are being published. The third experiment flight after successfully completing an investigation continuation failed due to a hardware malfunction. review in October 1998. MGM-III experiments will be conducted aboard the space shuttle during the STS-107 mission and will The Extensional Rheology Experiment (ERE), designed by investigate the constitutive and stability behavior of water-saturated Gareth McKinley, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is sand specimens in microgravity, where the science team will intended to provide the first unambiguous quantitative measure- employ a new specimen-reforming technique that enables recycling ments of the transient uniaxial extensional viscosity for a viscoelastic the same specimen for additional experiments. The experiments polymer solution and to examine the relaxation behavior following are expected to provide the first-ever measurements of sand extensional deformation. The test fluid selected for ERE is a strength and stiffness modulus properties and induced pore water Boger fluid composed of 0.025 weight percent of high molecular pressures during cyclic loading similar to strong ground motion weight monodisperse polystyrene dissolved in oligometric poly- observed during earthquakes. The newly devised specimen- styrene. The complete test matrix involves eight non-Newtonian reforming technique will be of great importance for future space tests on the Boger fluid covering the Deborah number range of station–based research, as it enables the reuse and retesting of the 0.10 to 10.0, and two Newtonian tests using the oligometric poly- same sample many times under controlled initial conditions. The styrene only. The experiments will be conducted on a Terrier Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications has Black-Brant sounding rocket with an MK70 booster. A total of ranked MGM one of its top discoveries and accomplishments in 1999. five flights are needed to complete the 10-test matrix (two tests per Collisions Into Dust Experiment-2 (COLLIDE-2) is a flight). Assembly of the ERE flight hardware was complete in Complex Autonomous Payload experiment that studies the effects 1999. Design changes to the force measurement system and optics of particle collisions on the formation of planetary rings and proto- systems (flow-induced birefringence and digital particle image planetary disks. The PI is Joshua Colwell, of the University of velocimetry) were implemented, and system functional testing was Colorado. In the experiment, data are obtained on the outcome of completed. The ERE payload completed flight acceptance vibration low-velocity collisions into a fine volcanic powder that simulates testing in November 1999. Payload thermal testing was started in regolith, the dust and small particles that coat the surfaces of most 1999 and completed in early 2000. Delays encountered during testing bodies in the Solar System, such as asteroids, ring particles, and resulted in the first sounding rocket launch schedule slip to July 2000. the Moon. COLLIDE-2 continues the study that began with The Physics of Colloids in Space (PCS) experiment, designed COLLIDE, a Get Away Special payload that flew on STS-90 in by David Weitz, of Harvard University, and Peter Pusey, of the April 1998. Results from that experiment showed an absence of University of Edinburgh, is slated to become the first fluid physics any significant dust ejecta in the impact energy regime studies. 8 COLLIDE-2 will expand the experimental parameter space in successfully tested on the KC-135 aircraft to verify the projectile order to find the transition from purely accretional impacts to launch velocities as a function of launcher settings. The flight battery those with some dust ejecta and to characterize the amount and boxes have been fabricated, and camera container boxes have been velocity of ejecta as a function of impact velocity and energy. fabricated and pressure tested. COLLIDE-2 is being designed and built at the Laboratory for The FY 1999 ground and flight tasks for fluid physics are listed Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado, with a sig- in Table 7. Further details regarding these tasks may be found in nificant amount of student involvement. Hardware design modifi- the complementary document Microgravity Research Division cations have been completed, and the flight hardware is in the Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1999, available online at process of being built and tested. The launcher mechanisms were http://microgravity.hq.nasa.gov/research.htm.

Table 7 Fluid Physics Tasks Funded by the Microgravity Research Division in FY 1999 (includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

Flight Experiments The Dynamics of Miscible Interfaces: A Space Flight Experiment Tony Maxworthy The Dynamics of Disorder-Order Transitions in Hard Sphere Colloidal Dispersions University of Southern California; Los Angeles, CA Paul M. Chaikin Princeton University; Princeton, NJ Extensional Rheology Experiment Gareth H. McKinley Collisions Into Dust Experiment-2 Joshua E. Colwell Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO Industrial Processes Influenced by Gravity Investigations of Mechanisms Associated With Nucleate Boiling Under Simon Ostrach Microgravity Conditions Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH Vijay K. Dhir University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA Diffusing Light Photography of Containerless Ripple Turbulence Seth J. Putterman The Melting of Aqueous Foams — Foam Optics and Mechanics University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA Douglas J. Durian University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA Behavior of Rapidly Sheared Bubbly Suspensions Ashok S. Sangani Microscale Hydrodynamics Near Moving Contact Lines Syracuse University; Syracuse, NY Stephen Garoff Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA Studies in Electrohydrodynamics Dudley A. Saville Growth and Morphology, Boiling, and Critical Fluctuations of Phase Separating Supercritical Fluids Princeton University; Princeton, NJ John J. Hegseth Thermal Control and Enhancement of Heat Transport Capacity of Cryogenic University of New Orleans; New Orleans, LA Capillary-Pumped Loops and Heat Pipes With Electrohydrodynamics An Experimental Study of Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability in Low Gravity Jamal Seyed-Yagoobi Jeffrey W. Jacobs Texas A&M University; College Station, TX University of Arizona, Tucson; Tucson, AZ Mechanics of Granular Materials Particle Segregation in Collisional Shearing Flows Stein Sture James T. Jenkins University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO Cornell University; Ithaca, NY A Study of the Constrained Vapor Bubble Heat Exchanger Magnetorheological Fluids: Rheology and Nonequilibrium Pattern Formation Peter C. Wayner Jr. Jing Liu Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Troy, NY California State University; Long Beach, CA Physics of Colloids in Space Studies of Gas – Particle Interactions in a Microgravity Flow Cell Michel Y. Louge David A. Weitz Cornell University; Ithaca, NY Harvard University; Cambridge, MA Microgravity Experiments to Evaluate Electrostatic Forces in Controlling Colloidal Assembly in Entropically Driven, Low Volume–Fraction Binary Particle Cohesion and Adhesion of Granular Materials Suspensions John R. Marshall Arjun G. Yodh Ames Research Center; Moffett Field, CA University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA 29 Ground-Based Experiments Marangoni Effects on Near-Bubble Microscale Transport During Boiling of Binary Fluid Mixtures Experimental and Analytical Study of Two-Phase Flow Parameters in Microgravity Van P. Carey Davood Abdollahian University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA S. Levy Inc.; Campbell, CA Structure, Hydrodynamics, and Phase Transitions of Freely Suspended Liquid The Synergism of Electrorheological Response, Dielectrophoresis, and Shear- Crystals Induced Diffusion in Flowing Suspensions Noel A. Clark Andreas Acrivos University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO City College of the City University of New York; New York, NY Dusty Plasma Dynamics Near Surfaces in Space Dynamics and Statics of Nonaxisymmetric Liquid Bridges Joshua E. Colwell J. Iwan D. Alexander University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and Combustion Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH Interface Morphology During Crystal Growth: Effects of Anisotropy and Fluid Flow Sam R. Coriell Ultrasonic Thermal Field Imaging of Opaque Fluids National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD C. D. Andereck Ohio State University; Columbus, OH Scaling of Multiphase Flow Regimes and Interfacial Behavior at Microgravity Christopher J. Crowley Scientific Studies and Technological Potential of Acousto-Electrically Generated Creare Inc.; Hanover, NH Drop or Particle Clusters and Arrays Robert E. Apfel Phoretic and Radiometric Force Measurements on Microparticles Under Yale University; New Haven, CT Microgravity Conditions E. J. Davis Fluid Physics of Foam Evolution and Flow University of Washington; Seattle, WA Hassan Aref University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL Cell and Particle Interactions and Aggregation During Electrophoretic Motion Robert H. Davis Marangoni Instability–Induced Convection in Evaporating Liquid Droplets University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO V. S. Arpaci University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI Thermocapillary-Induced Phase Separation of Dispersed Systems With Coalescence Robert H. Davis Two-Phase Gas-Liquid Flows in Microgravity: Experimental and Theoretical University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO Investigation of the Annular Flow Vemuri Balakotaiah Theory of Solidification University of Houston; Houston, TX Stephen H. Davis Northwestern University; Evanston, IL Numerical Simulation of Electrochemical Transport Processes in Microgravity Environments Spectral-Element Simulations of Thermal Convection in a Rotating, Hemispherical Sanjoy Banerjee Shell With Radial Gravity and Comparison With Space-Laboratory Experiments University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA Anil Deane University of Maryland, College Park; College Park, MD Control of Flowing Liquid Films by Electrostatic Fields in Space S. G. Bankoff Attenuation of Gas Turbulence by a Nearly Stationary Dispersion of Fine Particles Northwestern University; Evanston, IL John K. Eaton Stanford University; Stanford, CA Forced Oscillation of Pendant and Sessile Drops Osman A. Basaran Effects of Gravity on Sheared Turbulence Laden With Bubbles or Droplets Purdue University; West Lafayette, IN Said E. Elghobashi University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA Dynamics of Granular Materials Robert P. Behringer Evaporation, Boiling, and Condensation on/in Capillary Structures of High Heat Duke University; Durham, NC Flux, Two-Phase Devices Amir Faghri Investigation of Drop Formation by a Vortex Ring in Microgravity University of Connecticut; Storrs, CT Luis P. Bernal University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI The Influence of Gravity on Colloidal Crystallization and Field-Induced Aggregation Dynamic Modeling of the Microgravity Flow Alice P. Gast Jeremiah U. Brackbill Stanford University; Stanford, CA Los Alamos National Laboratory; Los Alamos, NM Definition of Dust Aggregation and Concentration System for the Microgravity Inertial Effects in Suspension Dynamics Space Environment John F. Brady Frank J. Giovane California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA Naval Research Laboratory; Washington, DC 0 Material Instabilities in Particulate Systems Bubble Dynamics on a Heated Surface Joe D. Goddard Mohammad Kassemi University of California, San Diego; La Jolla, CA National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and Combustion; Cleveland, OH Thermoacoustic Effects at a Solid-Fluid Boundary: The Role of a Second-Order Thermal Expansion Coefficient Studies in Thermocapillary Convection of the Marangoni-Bénard Type Ashok Gopinath Robert E. Kelly Naval Postgraduate School; Monterey, CA University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA Plasma Dust Crystallization Two-Phase Annular Flow in Helical Coil Flow Channels in a Reduced-Gravity John A. Goree Environment University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA Edward G. Keshock Capillary-Elastic Instabilities in Microgravity Cleveland State University; Cleveland, OH James B. Grotberg Investigation of Pool Boiling Heat Transfer Mechanisms in Microgravity Using an University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI Array of Surface-Mounted Heat Flux Sensors Determination of the Accommodation Coefficient Using Vapor/Gas Bubble Jungho Kim Dynamics in an Acoustic Field in Microgravity Conditions University of Maryland, College Park; College Park, MD Nail A. Gumerov Dynaflow, Inc.; Fulton, MD Weakly Nonlinear Description of Parametric Instabilities in Vibrating Flows Edgar Knobloch Instability Mechanisms in Thermally Driven Interfacial Flows in Liquid- University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA Encapsulated Crystal Growth Hossein Haj-Hariri Molecular Dynamics of Fluid-Solid Systems University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA Joel Koplik City College of the City University of New York; New York, NY A Study of the Microscale Fluid Physics in the Near–Contact Line Region of an Evaporating Capillary Meniscus Thermocapillary Convection in Low Pr Materials Under Simulated Reduced-Gravity Kevin P. Hallinan Conditions University of Dayton; Dayton, OH Sindo Kou University of Wisconsin; Madison, WI Engineering of Novel Biocolloidal Suspensions Daniel A. Hammer Electric Field–Induced Interfacial Instabilities University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA Robert E. Kusner Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH A Geophysical Flow Experiment in a Compressible Critical Fluid John J. Hegseth Microscopic Visualization of Fluid Flow in Evaporating Droplets and Electro-Osmotic University of New Orleans; New Orleans, LA Flows Experimental Investigation of Pool Boiling Heat Transfer Enhancement in Ronald Larson Microgravity in the Presence of Electric Fields University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI Cila Herman Interaction Forces and the Flow-Induced Coalescence of Drops and Bubbles Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD L. G. Leal Rheology of Foam Near the Order-Disorder Transition University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA R. G. Holt Boston University; Boston, MA The Micromechanics of the Moving Contact Line Seth Lichter Sonoluminescence in Space: The Critical Role of Buoyancy in Stability and Northwestern University; Evanston, IL Emission Mechanisms R. G. Holt Absolute and Convective Instability and Splitting of a Liquid Jet at Microgravity Boston University; Boston, MA Sung P. Lin Clarkson University; Potsdam, NY Problems in Microgravity Fluid Mechanics: Thermocapillary Instabilities and G-Jitter Convection Rheology of Concentrated Emulsions George M. Homsy Michael Loewenberg Stanford University; Stanford, CA Yale University; New Haven, CT Surfactant-Based Critical Phenomena in Microgravity The Dissolution of an Interface Between Miscible Liquids Eric W. Kaler James V. Maher University of Delaware; Newark, DE University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh, PA Bubble Generation in a Flowing Liquid Medium and Resulting Two-Phase Flow Using Surfactants to Enhance Thermocapillary Migration Bubbles and Drops and in Microgravity Facilitate Drop Spreading to Hydrophobic Surfaces Yasuhiro Kamotani Charles Maldarelli Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH City College of New York; New York, NY 31 Passive or Active Radiation Stress Stabilization of (and Coupling to) Liquid Bridges Acoustic Bubble Removal From Boiling Surfaces and Bridge Networks Andrea Prosperetti Philip L. Marston Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD Washington State University; Pullman, WA Containerless Ripple Turbulence Single Bubble Sonoluminescence in Low Gravity and Optical Radiation Pressure Seth J. Putterman Positioning of the Bubble University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA Philip L. Marston Washington State University; Pullman, WA Complex Dynamics in Marangoni Convection With Rotation Hermann Riecke Fundamental Processes of Atomization in Fluid-Fluid Flows Northwestern University; Evanston, IL Mark J. McCready University of Notre Dame; Notre Dame, IN Decoupling the Role of Inertia and Gravity on Particle Dispersion Chris B. Rogers An Interferometric Investigation of Contact Line Dynamics in Spreading Polymer Tufts University; Medford, MA Melts and Solutions Gareth H. McKinley Design/Interpretation of Microgravity Experiments to Obtain Fluid/Solid Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA Boundary Conditions in Nonisothermal Systems Daniel E. Rosner Study of Two-Phase Gas-Liquid Flow Behavior at Reduced-Gravity Conditions Yale University; New Haven, CT John McQuillen Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH Ground-Based Studies of Internal Flows in Levitated, Laser-Heated Drops Satwindar S. Sadhal Fluid Dynamics and Solidification of Molten Solder Droplets Impacting on a University of Southern California; Los Angeles, CA Substrate in Microgravity Constantine M. Megaridis Terrestrial Experiments on G-Jitter Effects on Transport and Pattern Formation University of Illinois; Chicago, IL Michael F. Schatz Georgia Institute of Technology; Atlanta, GA Determination of Interfacial Rheological Properties Through Microgravity Oscillations of Bubbles and Drops Free-Surface and Contact-Line Motion of Liquids in a Microgravity Environment Ali Nadim Leonard W. Schwartz Boston University; Boston, MA University of Delaware; Newark, DE NMRI Measurements and Granular Dynamics Simulations of Segregation of Drop Breakup in Flow Through Fixed Beds as Model Stochastic Strong Flows Granular Mixtures Eric S. Shaqfeh Masami Nakagawa Stanford University; Stanford, CA Colorado School of Mines; Golden, CO Lateral Motion of Particles and Bubbles Caused by Phoretic Flows Near a Solid Noncoalescence Effects in Microgravity Interface G. P. Neitzel Paul J. Sides Georgia Institute of Technology; Atlanta, GA Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh, PA Production and Removal of Gas Bubbles in Microgravity Fluid Physics and Transport Phenomena Research Support Hasan N. Oguz Bhim Singh Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD Glenn Research Center; Cleveland, OH Waves in Radial Gravity Using Magnetic Fluid The Development of Novel, High-Flux, Heat Transfer Cells for Thermal Control in Daniel R. Ohlsen Microgravity University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO Marc K. Smith Georgia Institute of Technology; Atlanta, GA On the Boundary Conditions at an Oscillating Contact Line: A Physical/Numerical Experimental Program Dynamics of the Molten Contact Line Marc Perlin Ain A. Sonin University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA Experimental Studies of Multiphase Materials Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Modeling of Transport Processes in a Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Generating Oxygen (NMR) and NMR Imaging on Mars Robert L. Powell K. R. Sridhar University of California, Davis; Davis, CA University of Arizona, Tucson; Tucson, AZ Dynamics of Accelerated Interfaces: Parametric Excitation and Fluid Sloshing in Marangoni Effects on Drop Deformation and Breakup in an Extensional Flow: The Closed Containers and Open Tanks Role of Surfactant Physical Chemistry Constantine Pozrikidis Kathleen J. Stebe University of California, San Diego; La Jolla, CA Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD 2 Stability of Shapes Held by Surface Tension and Subjected to Flow Paul H. Steen Cornell University; Ithaca, NY Instabilities in Surface Tension–Driven Convection Harry L. Swinney University of Texas, Austin; Austin, TX Crystal Growth and Fluid Mechanics Problems in Directional Solidification Saleh Tanveer Ohio State University; Columbus, OH Microgravity Effects on Transendothelial Transport John M. Tarbell Pennsylvania State University; University Park, PA The Pool Boiling Crisis From Flat Plates: Mechanism(s) and Enhancement Theofanis G. Theofanous University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA Studies of Particle Sedimentation by Novel Scattering Techniques Penger Tong Oklahoma State University; Stillwater, OK Acoustic Streaming in Microgravity: Flow Stability and Heat Transfer Enhancement Eugene H. Trinh National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Washington, DC Computations of Boiling in Microgravity Gretar Tryggvason University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI Fluid Physics in a Stochastic Acceleration Environment Jorge Viñals Florida State University; Tallahassee, FL Enhanced Boiling on Microconfigured Composite Surfaces Under Microgravity Conditions Nengli Zhang Ohio Aerospace Institute; Cleveland, OH The Small-Scale Structure of Turbulence Gregory Zimmerli National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and Combustion; Cleveland, OH

33 Fundamental Physics Science is driven by human curiosity about nature. In the force is the most fundamental of all forces in nature. Every bit of study of fundamental physics, scientists wish to uncover and matter in the universe is under the influence, even if infinitesimally understand the basic underlying principles that govern the so, of every other bit of matter. Relativity theories propose that behavior of the world around us. Fundamental physics, therefore, gravitational forces apply equally to all bodies. Furthermore, establishes a foundation for many other branches of science and Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity puts gravity at the heart provides the intellectual underpinning needed to maintain and of the structure of the universe, proposing that even the orderly further develop our highly technological society. Researchers in space-time structure of the universe can be “warped” near a body the discipline have two quests that motivate laboratory studies of large mass, such as the Sun or Earth. This warp would even and experiments in space. First, they seek to explore and understand affect clocks. While these changes to the very fabric of space and the fundamental physical laws governing matter, space, and time. time near a large body are dramatic in their importance, they are Deep examination of the smallest and largest building blocks that very subtle and difficult to measure accurately. Still, they are large make up the universe will yield a better understanding of the basic enough that they must be taken into account in even routine ideas, or theories, that describe the world. The space environment astronomy observations and in measuring the position of satellites provides access to different space-time coordinates and frees and planets. Advanced technologies must be used to detect and experimenters from the disturbing effects caused by gravity on characterize these minute changes so that the corrections due to Earth. Second, researchers seek to discover and understand the relativistic phenomena can be precise. The fundamental physics organizing principles of nature from which structure and com- program currently is sponsoring the development of several exper- plexity emerge. While the basic laws of nature may be simple, the iments designed to improve accuracy in the measurements of universe that has arisen under these laws is amazingly complex these effects and to test the basic foundations for Einstein’s theory. and diverse. By studying nature apart from Earth’s gravity, we While studies in gravitational and relativistic physics examine can better understand how the universe developed and how best the most fundamental laws describing the universe on a large to employ these principles in service to humanity. scale, it is equally important to look at the tiny building blocks of The pursuit of these quests will greatly benefit society over matter and how they manifest the same fundamental laws. Laser the long run. For example, the study of physical laws and natural cooling and atomic physics examines this area. Atoms are the principles with unprecedented precision requires advances in smallest systems in which we can study the basic principles of the instrumentation that provide the foundation for tomorrow’s universe. New techniques allow the use of laser light to cool and breakthrough technologies. These advances contribute to the probe individual atoms as a starting point for exploration. competitiveness of American industry and further support and Careful study of individual atoms bridges the gap between the enhance the presence of humans in space. The pursuit of knowl- actions of the smallest pieces of matter and the complex behavior edge also serves to educate tomorrow’s scientists and technologists of large systems. Conducting these experiments in space allows and to fulfill the innate human desire to understand our place in researchers to remove the influence of gravity and manipulate mat- the universe. Humankind’s concept of the universe is changing ter freely, without having to counteract “falling” of the specimens rapidly as the tools that NASA places in space, such as the within the instruments. The ability to observe the behavior of Hubble Space Telescope, detect new astronomical objects and atoms while they are completely under the experimenter’s control novel events; the understanding of the details of these phenomena promises novel results and new insights previously hidden from depends strongly on our understanding of fundamental forces view in Earth-bound laboratories. The NASA microgravity fun- such as gravity. damental physics program is developing space experiments to To address the two long-term quests discussed above, study clouds of atoms cooled by laser light to very near absolute research is currently being pursued in three areas: gravitational zero, yet freely floating without the forces that would be needed and relativistic physics, laser cooling and atomic physics, and to contain them on Earth. These novel conditions allow longer low-temperature and condensed matter physics. There is significant observation times and measurements of higher precision. These synergy across the three research areas in terms of both scientific techniques are also employed to develop improved clocks, both overlap and overlap in experimental techniques. It is anticipated for testing basic theories of nature and for use in technological that research in other areas, such as biological physics and high- applications in space. energy physics, may be pursued in the future. Like laser cooling and atomic physics, low-temperature and Gravitational and relativistic physics is perhaps the most condensed matter physics is the study of fundamental laws of fundamental area of physics. Physicists have determined that nature on a small scale, at the atomic level. Condensed matter there are four kinds of forces that operate on matter: gravity, physicists examine the properties of solids and liquids, the states electromagnetism, and the “strong” and “weak” forces within of matter in which atoms are condensed, or packed closely atomic nuclei. Gravity is the weakest of these forces, yet paradox- together. Of particular interest to physicists is the behavior of ically the most dominant, as it can act over very great distances. matter near a critical point, or conditions of pressure and temper- In fact, the entire history of the universe illustrates the struggle to ature at which the properties of two different phases become counteract the gravitational force with the predictable eventuality similar. For example, a substance at the liquid-vapor critical that all matter will succumb to it. In this regard, the gravitational point exhibits no distinction between the liquid phase and the 4 vapor phase. Properties of a substance often display anomalies at • Randy Hulet, of Rice University, and his group have successfully a critical point. Many of the unusual phenomena exhibited at crit- demonstrated their “atom skimmer” for loading 6Li atoms ical points can best be studied at low temperatures, where thermal into a magneto-optical trap. This process allows for the noise (heat-induced vibration) is much reduced. By understanding atomic beam source to be physically separated from the trap- the complex critical behavior of low-temperature materials, such ping region so that ultrahigh vacuum conditions can be as liquid helium, we will learn more about the critical properties maintained in the trap. of many systems, such as metallic alloys, magnetic materials, and • Juha Javanainen, of the University of Connecticut, has groups of fundamental particles, and even learn about larger-scale demonstrated theoretically that, by simply sweeping the fre- phenomena, such as the percolation of water or the movement of quency of a photo-associating laser, a condensate of atoms weather patterns, all of which exhibit critical point behavior. can be converted into a condensate of molecules. This discovery Because critical point behavior is a function not only of temperature may prove to be a key to establishing a molecular condensate. but also of pressure, the pressure must be uniform throughout the • Mark Kasevich, of Yale University, demonstrated the highest sample under observation. Earth’s gravity causes pressure differences in a sample, so critical point phenomena on the ground can only sensitivity reported thus far for a gravity gradiometer, with be observed in a very small region. If an experiment is conducted an instrument based on atom interferometry. in microgravity, the pressure can be uniform across the sample, • Wolfgang Ketterle, of the Massachusetts Institute of and much more comprehensive measurements can be made. Technology (MIT), observed excitation of standing and Furthermore, in microgravity, a drop of sample material can be rotating surface modes and domains of different spin orien- freely suspended without the interference of a container. This tations in a Bose-Einstein condensate. The structure of these freedom from external constraints is not possible in an Earth- domains is established by applied magnetic fields and by ori- bound laboratory. entation-dependent interactions between the atoms. The MIT researchers also measured “zero-point motion” in a Ongoing investigations sponsored by the fundamental sodium Bose-Einstein condensate for the first time. physics program study critical point behavior in mixtures and in confined media and test the universality of critical phase transi- • John Lipa, of Stanford University, and his team have com- tions and the scaling laws at such points. In addition, the dynamic pleted their data analysis of the Confined Helium Experiment flight results and data from different confinement sizes. The behavior of materials at critical points is studied to detect predicted results agree qualitatively with theoretical models describing nonlinear responses to driving forces, and the effects of finite size the nature of confinement effects. and of boundaries are studied near critical points. For example, studies of large-scale quantum systems are being performed to • Lipa and his team report a tenfold improvement from previous measurements in searching for the existence of a new force learn the hydrodynamics of such systems and of the melting and acting in the 0.3 mm range. So far, the experiment has been a freezing of quantum crystals. null result. Again this year, the list of discoveries and first observations • Horst Meyer, of Duke University, and his group directly of new phenomena for the fundamental physics investigators is observed for the first time the predicted “adiabatic tempera- impressive. Research discoveries have been published in the most ture gradient” effect in 3He in a ground-based experiment. prestigious journals, such as Nature, Science, and Physical Review • Richard Packard, of the University of California, Berkeley, Letters. Following are highlights of the microgravity fundamental and his group have observed Shapiro steps in superfluid physics program in fiscal year (FY) 1999: weak links and have discovered an exotic current-phase rela- • Robert Berg, of the National Institute of Standards and tion in superfluid weak links. Technology (NIST), demonstrated in the Critical Viscosity • William Phillips, of NIST, made the first observation of of Xenon experiment aboard the space shuttle that a non- four-wave mixing with atom waves resulting from the colli- polymer fluid could be viscoelastic. The key to observing sion of three Bose-Einstein condensates to form a fourth one. xenon’s viscoelasticity was to bring the sample very close to the critical point state, which is only possible in a freefall • Alvin Sanders, of the University of Tennessee, has been environment. awarded two patents related to his Satellite Energy Exchange project. • John Hall, of the University of Colorado, has filed two patents that relate to his group’s work developing stable oscillators employing laser-cooled atoms. Meetings, Awards, and Publications • Daniel Heinzen, of the University of Texas, generated ultra- The American Physical Society held its centennial meeting cold molecules using a Bose-Einstein condensate of a dilute in Atlanta, Georgia, March 20–26, 1999. With 11,400 physicists atomic gas. from more than 60 countries in attendance, this was the largest • Jason Ho, of Ohio State University, developed a theoretical physics meeting in history. Most of the microgravity fundamental model for the superfluid state of optically trapped fermions. physics investigators participated in the meeting. Among the 35 exhibits that accompanied the meeting was a booth presenting an Jason Ho and Mark Kasevich organized a workshop on overview of microgravity research to be performed aboard the Bose-Einstein condensation, held at the Aspen Center for Physics International Space Station. A tutorial titled “The Physics of June 14–July 4, 1999. The workshop gathered more than 40 par- Cold Atoms at Millikelvin, Microkelvin and Nanokelvin ticipants from all over the world to discuss the latest developments Temperatures” was organized by Wolfgang Ketterle at the meeting. in the field. The 1999 Frequency Control Symposium was held jointly The number of presentations and publications by fundamental with the European Frequency and Time Forum in Besançon, physics investigators increased by 30 percent over last year. The France, April 13–16, 1999. Laser cooling flight project team mem- 250 publications during 1999 comprised 114 journal articles, 53 bers attended the conference, which featured sessions on space clocks, presentations, 66 proceedings articles, 4 patents, 12 NASA New laser-cooled frequency standards, and time-transfer techniques. Technology Reports, and 1 book. A mini-workshop discussing recent advances in studies of Fundamental physics investigators garnered several awards 4He in a heat current near the superfluid transition, organized by during FY 1999: Robert Duncan, of the University of New Mexico, was held in • John Dick, of JPL, received the 1999 European Time and Washington, D.C., on April 28, 1999. Frequency Award. The award, granted every two years by The 1999 NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) the French Society of Microtechnology and Chronometry, International Conference on Fundamental Physics in Space was recognizes exceptional contributions in fundamental held April 29–May 1 in Washington, D.C. One hundred thirty advances for present or future applications. scientists representing all subdiscipline areas participated in the • Robert Duncan was elected vice chair of the American meeting, which consisted of 38 oral presentations and 47 poster Physical Society’s (APS’) Topical Group on Instrumentation presentations. A special opening session saw Congressman and Measurement. Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich., reporting on the House Science • Shin Inouye, a graduate student in Wolfgang Ketterle’s labo- Committee’s work on updating our outdated National Science ratory, won the 1999 Deutsch Award for Excellence in Policy. Arnauld Nicogossian, of NASA headquarters; William Experimental Physics. The Deutsch Award is given every Phillips, of NIST; Kip Thorne, of the California Institute of other year to one graduate student at MIT. Technology; and Humphrey Maris, of Brown University, gave keynote speeches. Maurice Jacobs, the European Space Agency • Ketterle was awarded the very prestigious Fritz London (ESA) Fundamental Physics Advisory Group chair, gave the banquet Prize in Low-Temperature Physics at the 22nd International speech. A breakfast meeting with Congressmen Ehlers; Conference on Low-Temperature Physics in Helsinki, Finland. Congressman Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va.; and Congressman Rush • Daniel Stamper-Kurn, a graduate student working in Holt, D-N.J.; congressional aides Lee Alman and Richard Ketterle’s laboratory, won the 1998 New Focus Student Oberman; Office of Management and Budget Representative Award of the Optical Society of America. Douglas Comstock; and Office of Science and Technology Policy • William Phillips, of NIST, was awarded the 1998 APS Representative Colleen Hartman was sponsored by Stanford Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science for his work in University and held during the first day of the conference. developing methods for magnetic trapping of laser-cooled atoms. The 1999 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and the 1999 Quantum Electronics Laser Science Conference were held jointly May 23–28, 1999, in Baltimore, Maryland. Several investi- Flight Experiments gators in the low-temperature and condensed matter physics area The data analysis phase for the Confined Helium attended and presented papers at the conference, which featured Experiment (CHeX), which had a successful flight as part of the a wide selection of topics in atomic and optical physics. fourth United States Microgravity Payload (USMP–4) mission The Inner Space/Outer Space conference was held at the November 19–December 5, 1997, has been completed. Principal Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory May 26–29, 1999. NASA Investigator John Lipa’s results demonstrate good agreement Code S and the Department of Energy jointly organized this con- with theories of finite size effect and with finite size scaling. A ference. Discussions were held with participants regarding Code manuscript summarizing the findings has been accepted for pub- UG collaborations in the high-energy physics area. lication in Physical Review Letters. A successful investigation con- Approximately 10 investigators participated in the Second tinuation review was held with a recommendation for a CHeX International Conference on Low-Temperature Physics held in reflight to study confinement in cylindrical pores with a diameter Chernogolovka, Russia, July 28–August 2, 1999. roughly equal to the two-dimensional spacing from the first flight. Fundamental physics investigators presented more than 25 Unfortunately, the program has been unable to generate the papers at the 22nd International Conference on Low- required funds and flight opportunity to implement the reflight. Temperature Physics held in Helsinki, Finland, August 4–11, The objective of the Critical Viscosity of Xenon-2 (CVX-2) 1999. A number of fundamental physics investigators were invited experiment, designed by Robert Berg, builds on the original CVX speakers at the conference. experiment, launched on August 7, 1997, which met all scientific 6 objectives. Raw data converted to values of viscosity yielded accu- Relativity, including gravitational frequency shift and local posi- rate results to test viscoelasticity theory. The principal investigator tion invariance, on the rate of clocks. PARCS will also achieve a submitted a paper titled “Viscoelasticity of Xenon Near the realization of the “second” (the fundamental unit of time tied to Critical Point,” which was accepted by Physical Review Letters. the energy difference between two atomic levels in cesium) at an Based on results from CVX, Berg proposed a follow-on experiment order of magnitude better than is achievable on Earth and will to measure shear thinning predicted to occur near the critical point disseminate this accuracy to laboratories across the globe. The of a pure fluid. CVX-2 uses the CVX flight hardware, with some PARCS SCR was successfully held in January 1999. modifications, to achieve the viscometer precision and temperature Utilizing the microgravity environment aboard the ISS, the stability required. The flight hardware has been completed, and Rubidium Atomic Clock Experiment (RACE) will interrogate all modifications have been tested. The same sample cell used for rubidium (87Rb) atoms with precision one to two orders of magni- CVX will also be used for CVX-2. The flight timeline includes tude better than Earth-based systems, achieving frequency uncer- three passes through the critical temperature. CVX-2 was modified tainties in the 10-16 to 10-17 range. RACE will improve clock tests to accommodate programmable viscometer frequencies and of general relativity, advance clock limitations, and distribute amplitudes, and also to allow the principal investigator to make accurate time and frequency from the ISS. The RACE SCR has timeline changes in real time. The first action of the experiment been scheduled for June 2000. is to locate the critical point to within 3 millikelvins while taking The FY 1999 ground and flight tasks for fundamental a series of viscometer measurements. Primary viscosity data are physics are listed in Table 8. Further details regarding these tasks acquired during a series of measurements at a single viscometer may be found in the complementary document Microgravity operating frequency and four different amplitudes. A third data Research Division Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1999, set will repeat the measurements at two different viscometer fre- available online at http://microgravity.hq.nasa.gov/research.htm. quencies. A flight has not been identified for CVX-2, and the hardware is currently in storage. The six candidate experiments for the Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics Experiments Project made significant progress in their flight-definition activities. The Microgravity Scaling Theory Experiment (MISTE) and the Superfluid Universality Experiment (SUE) held successful science concept reviews (SCRs) in December 1998. A nonadvocate science panel and a nonadvocate engineering/programmatic panel reviewed the experiments’ science significance, needs for microgravity, preliminary science requirements, and preliminary experiment implementation plans. MISTE, SUE, and the Critical Dynamics in Microgravity experiment will compete for the two experiment slots on the first mission (M1) of the Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics Facility at their requirements definition reviews (RDRs), planned for November 1999. The other three experiments, Boundary Effects on the Superfluid Transition, Experiments Along Coexistence near Tricriticality, and Superconducting Microwave Oscillator, are working towards their SCRs, which are planned for February 2000. Two of these experiments will be selected for the M2 mission. The multinational Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle (STEP) project completed the definition of science requirements and put them under configuration control. Based on the maturity of the project definition, the experiment’s SCR and RDR were completed. STEP also defined the spacecraft and payload interface requirements, allowing ESA to select Martra Marconi Space, of the United Kingdom, to perform the spacecraft service module study with a completion date of April 2000. STEP is currently focusing its efforts on retiring key technical risks in the science instrument by prototyping. Once onboard the International Space Station (ISS), the Primary Atomic Reference Clock in Space (PARCS) project will measure various predictions of Einstein’s Theory of General 37 Table 8 Fundamental Physics Tasks Funded by the Microgravity Research Division in FY 1999 (includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

Flight Experiments Droplets of 3He-4He Mixtures Siu-Tat Chui Boundary Effects on Transport Properties and Dynamic Finite-Size Scaling Near the University of Delaware; Newark, DE Superfluid Transition Line of 4He Guenter Ahlers The Lambda Transition Under Superfluid Flow Conditions University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA Talso C. Chui Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA Microgravity Test of Universality and Scaling Predictions Near the Liquid-Gas Critical Point of 3He Nucleation of Quantized Vortices From Rotating Superfluid Drops Martin B. Barmatz Russell J. Donnelly Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA University of Oregon; Eugene, OR Kinetic and Thermodynamic Studies of Melting-Freezing of Helium in Microgravity Critical Viscosity of Xenon-2 Charles Elbaum Robert F. Berg Brown University; Providence, RI National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle Critical Dynamics in Microgravity C. W. F. Everitt Robert V. Duncan Stanford University; Stanford, CA University of New Mexico; Albuquerque, NM Critical Dynamics of Ambient-Temperature and Low-Temperature Phase Transitions Investigation of Future Microgravity Atomic Clocks Richard A. Ferrell Kurt Gibble University of Maryland, College Park; College Park, MD Yale University; New Haven, CT Fundamental Physics Using Frequency-Stabilized Lasers as Optical “Atomic Clocks” Experiments Along Coexistence Near Tricriticality John L. Hall Melora E. Larson University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA Precision Measurements With Trapped Laser-Cooled Atoms in a Microgravity A New Test of Critical Point Universality by Measuring the Superfluid Density Near Environment the Lambda Line of Helium Daniel J. Heinzen John A. Lipa University of Texas, Austin; Austin, TX Standford University; Stanford, CA Gravitational Effects in Bose-Einstein Condensate of Atomic Gases Confined Helium Experiment Tin-Lun Ho John A. Lipa Ohio State University; Columbus, OH Stanford University; Stanford, CA A Quantum Degenerate Fermi Gas of 6Li Atoms Fundamental Physics Experiments With Superconducting Cavity–Stabilized Randall G. Hulet Oscillators on Space Station Rice University; Houston, TX John A. Lipa Stanford University; Stanford, CA Dynamic Measurements Along the Lambda Line of Helium in a Low-Gravity Simulator on the Ground Primary Atomic Reference Clock in Space Ulf E. Israelsson Donald Sullivan Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA National Institute of Standards and Technology; Boulder, CO Turbidity and Universality Around a Liquid-Liquid Critical Point Donald T. Jacobs Ground-Based Experiments The College of Wooster; Wooster, OH The Superfluid Transition of 4He Under Unusual Conditions Bose-Einstein Condensate and Atom Laser: Coherence and Optical Properties Guenter Ahlers Juha Javanainen University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara, CA University of Connecticut; Storrs, CT

New Phenomena in Strongly Counterflowing He-II near Tl Atom Interferometry in a Microgravity Environment Stephen T. Boyd Mark A. Kasevich University of New Mexico; Albuquerque, NM Yale University; New Haven, CT Prediction of Macroscopic Properties of Liquid Helium From Computer Simulation Towards Precision Experiments With Bose-Einstein Condensates David M. Ceperley Wolfgang Ketterle University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA 8 Second Sound Measurements Near the Tricritical Point in 3He - 4He Mixtures A Microgravity Helium Dilution Cooler Melora E. Larson Pat R. Roach Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA Ames Research Center; Moffett Field, CA Static Properties of 4He in the Presence of a Heat Current in a Low-Gravity Simulator Finite Size Effects Near the Liquid-Gas Critical Point of 3He Melora E. Larson Joseph Rudnick Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA University of California, Los Angeles; Los Angeles, CA Studies of Atomic Free Radicals Stored in a Cryogenic Environment Research and Analysis in Support of Project Satellite Energy Exchange: Test of the Equivalence Principle and Measurement of Gravitational Interaction Parameters in David M. Lee an Ultra-Precise Microgravity Environment Cornell University; Ithaca, NY Alvin J. Sanders A Renewal Proposal to Study the Effect of Confinement on Transport Properties by University of Tennessee; Knoxville, TN Making Use of Helium Along the Lambda Line Dynamics and Morphology of Superfluid Helium Drops in a Microgravity John A. Lipa Environment Stanford University; Stanford, CA George M. Seidel Brown University; Providence, RI A Test of Supersymmetry Theory by Searching for Anomalous Short-Range Forces John A. Lipa Precise Measurements of the Density and Critical Phenomena of Helium Near Phase Stanford University; Stanford, CA Transitions Donald M. Strayer High-Resolution Study of the Critical Region of Oxygen Using Magnetic Levitation Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA John A. Lipa 3He-4He Mixtures and Droplets Stabilized in Cesiated Containers Stanford University; Stanford, CA Peter Taborek Theoretical Studies of Liquid 4He Near the Superfluid Transition University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA Efstratios Manousakis Ground-Based Investigations With the Cryogenic Hydrogen Maser Florida State University; Tallahassee, FL Ronald L. Walsworth Smithsonian Institution; Cambridge, MA Density Equilibration in Fluids Near the Liquid-Vapor Critical Point Horst Meyer Duke University; Durham, NC Indium Mono-Ion Oscillator II Warren Nagourney University of Washington; Seattle, WA Superfluid Gyroscopes for Space Richard E. Packard University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA Search for Spin-Mass Interaction With A Superconducting Differential Angular Accelerometer Ho Jung Paik University of Maryland, College Park; College Park, MD The Effect of Thermal History, Temperature Gradients, and Gravity on Capillary Condensation of Phase-Separated Liquid 3He-4He Mixtures in Aerogel Jeevak M. Parpia Cornell University; Ithaca, NY Nonlinear Relaxation and Fluctuations in a Nonequilibrium, Near-Critical Liquid With a Temperature Gradient Alexander Z. Patashinski Northwestern University; Evanston, IL Evaporative Cooling and Bose Condensates in Microgravity: Picokelvin Atoms in Space William D. Phillips National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD 39 Materials Science The goal of the microgravity materials science research devices that accommodate a wide range of applications. An enve- program is to establish and improve the quantitative and pre- lope of potential experiment requirements for both current and dictive relationships among the structure, processing, and prop- future investigations is being developed for Materials Science erties of materials. Production processes for most materials Research Racks (MSRRs) #2 and #3 for the facility. These data include steps that are very heavily influenced by the force of will be used for architectural system trade studies. gravity. Typical gravity-related effects on materials science MSRR #1 completed its project definition review in June research include buoyancy-driven convection, sedimentation, 1999 with the rack subsystems and the Quench Module Insert. and hydrostatic pressure. The opportunity to observe, monitor, Activities have begun for the integrated design review, which will and study material production in low gravity promises to be conducted in mid-2000. Currently the first rack is scheduled increase our fundamental understanding of production processes for launch on the third Utilization Flight (UF-3) to the ISS. and their effects on the properties of the materials produced. Work continued with the European Space Agency (ESA) on Through careful modeling and experimentation, the mechanisms finalizing the scope of the Materials Science Laboratory module. by which materials are formed can be better understood and can These efforts produced a significant step forward in establishing result in improved processing controls. In this way, materials design interfaces with our international partner engineering team. scientists can design and manufacture new metal alloys, semi- Implementation of apparatus for two glovebox investigations, conductors, ceramics, glasses, and polymers with better properties, Pore Formation and Mobility, and Solidification Using a Baffle such as increased strength and durability. These new materials in Sealed Ampoules, was initiated. The two experiments are can be used to improve the performance of a wide range of scheduled for flight on UF-1. Flight hardware delivery is expected products, including complex computers. in mid-2001. In fiscal year (FY) 1999, the materials science program con- All SCRs for experiments selected from the 1994 NASA tinued work on projects in support of the Human Exploration Research Announcement (NRA) for microgravity materials science and Development of Space Enterprise Strategic Plan. The plan includes goals, performance measurements, and metrics. The were completed in FY 1999. Requirements definition for these current status of efforts put forth toward meeting these goals was investigations will continue throughout FY 2000. During this presented to the associate administrator for life and microgravity year, some project formulation support activities for the RDR sciences and applications as part of the materials science program’s milestones were adjusted due to reduced levels of station funding annual assessment. In addition, the materials science office at and delays in obtaining flight opportunities. An investigation Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) was restructured under a continuation review (ICR) for the Coarsening in Solid-Liquid single department to enable better communications and organiza- Mixtures investigation was conducted. A delta ICR to address tional efficiency among the science, systems engineering, and the certain specific engineering changes will be held in early FY 2000. projects implementing the program. Work continued on the investigation definition for the 10 To ensure that investigations get approved for flight, the experiments selected from the 1996 NRA for materials science. materials science program has placed emphasis on providing SCRs for these investigations will be held in FY 2000. NASA resources to the principal investigator teams in the flight- The evaluation of proposals in response to the 1998 NRA for definition phase to help investigators through the science concept microgravity materials science (98-HEDS-05) was completed, review (SCR) and the requirements definition review (RDR) and award letters will be issued by the end of calendar year 2000. processes in a timely manner. Multiple project science and engi- It is anticipated that the total number of grants awarded will neering teams were established to assist the PI teams with increase slightly over prior annual cycles. experiment concept development, technology identification, The Electrostatic Levitator (ESL) became fully operational modeling, breadboarding, and hardware prototyping. Additionally, at MSFC this year. The ESL is a state-of-the-art containerless support for building apparatus for KC-135 aircraft, drop tube, processing tool used by multiple materials science investigators. and electrostatic levitator operation was provided. With this new capability, MSFC can provide critical resources to Due to the agency’s emphasis on initial hardware assembly the materials science community to continue and enhance for the International Space Station (ISS) and the dedication of ground-based research in support of the development of experi- space shuttle flights to build the station, no materials science ments during the transition to ISS flight opportunities. Processing research missions or individual flight experiments were conducted levitated materials represents an important area of research that this year. Our flight researchers from prior space shuttle and allows access to the metastable state of undercooled melts. By Spacelab flights concluded their analyses and published final levitating materials so that they are free from contact with the con- postflight results. tainer wall, a high-purity environment can be obtained for the Development of the Materials Science Research Facility con- study of reactive, high-temperature materials for experiments on tinued in FY 1999. This development effort includes independent refractory solids and melts. William Johnson, of the California racks and components comprising experiment and insert modules Institute of Technology, uses data obtained from the ESL to that can be interchanged and replaced on orbit. The inserts develop alloy systems for an exciting new class of materials, bulk include both low- and high-temperature instruments and diagnostics metallic glasses. FY 1999 highlights from research conducted in 0 the ESL include the extension of processing capabilities to oxide undercooled rare earth aluminate liquid, and establishing glasses, such as Pyrex. Several facility upgrades contributed to this conditions for synthesizing bulk orthosilicate glass (forsterite, success. Of these upgrades, the most critical were improvements Mg2SiO4). to the sample positioning and control system and an improved • Randall German, of Pennsylvania State University, has begun ultraviolet charging system. These upgrades continue to identification of the sequence of events that occur during sin- enhance ESL processing capabilities for metals and alloys. tering in normal gravity, showing that densification and dis- The developmental dendrite growth hardware, installed in tortion take place in series. Improved understanding of the the Microgravity Development Laboratory last year, continues to sintering process will allow the production of high-performance provide an important test platform for materials science investi- sintered materials with improved dimensional control. gations and engineering breadboarding. Data were provided to evaluate transient and time-dependent dendritic growth by employing the relatively large Clapeyron pressure/melting tem- Meetings, Awards, and Publications perature effect in succinonitrile. Preliminary tests of the feasibility Richard Weber presented the invited keynote paper on the of this idea confirmed the basic scientific concept. Significant investigation of liquid oxides under extreme conditions at the achievements also have been made in meeting imaging diagnostics American Ceramic Society Meeting in Cocoa Beach, Florida, in requirements, including the challenge of tracking the dendrite tip January 1999. radii. In parallel, both conventional optics and holography are being developed and tested as a means of achieving the stringent The 37th American Institute of Aeronautics and optics requirements of materials science investigations. Astronautics’ Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit was held January 11–14, 1999, in Reno, Nevada. This meeting highlighted The prototype furnace for the Bridgman Unidirectional 21 areas dealing with aeronautical, astronautical, and educational Dendrite in a Liquid Experiment (BUNDLE) is being utilized aspects of materials science, including sessions on microgravity to investigate the fundamentals of unidirectional solidification and space processing. The meeting brought together scientists of metal alloy samples. Unique to the furnace design is an in-situ and engineers to discuss fundamental science issues, technological quench capability that ensures freezing without disturbing the challenges, and basic research associated with aerospace engineering. interfacial sample morphology. Increased throughput is achievable Carlos Coimbra, of Drexel University, and Roger Rangel, of the by “bundling” multiple furnace cores together. An extensive test University of California, Irvine, won the best paper award for program was initiated for a wide range of thermal parameters. their work titled “Spherical Particle Motion in Unsteady Viscous The BUNDLE furnace has successfully processed various samples Flows.” The paper is based on work being done to support the and sample configurations for more than 225 hours and 45 heat-up Spaceflight Holography Investigation in a Virtual Apparatus pro- cycles, at temperatures up to 1,100° C. The sharp delineation ject, headed by James Trolinger, of MetroLaser, Inc. between the growing dendrites and the eutectic structure in the interfacial region proved the efficacy of the in-situ quench method. The Martin E. Glicksman Symposium on Solidification and Crystal Growth of the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society’s Some notable scientific achievements during FY 1999 are (TMS’) Annual Meeting was held in San Diego, California, listed below: March 3, 1999. A workshop on containerless processing was also • While conducting preparatory research for his Frontal conducted as part of the conference. Polymerization in Microgravity investigation, John Pojman, The Pittsburgh Conference ’99, an annual major conference of the University of Southern Mississippi, was able to produce and trade show on analytical chemistry and applied spectroscopy, in the tensiometer an interface between a monomer and its was held in Orlando, Florida, March 8–11, 1999. Donald Gillies, polymer. This may be the first time an interface of this type of MSFC, gave an invited talk titled “Materials Science on Space between miscible liquids has been stabilized and examined. Station” as part of the symposium “Analytical Chemistry on the • Delbert Day, of the University of Missouri, and his team Space Station and Beyond.” Approximately 30,000 people attended have developed a new experimental method for determining the conference. the nucleation rate, crystal growth rate, and concentration of During the Powder Metallurgy and Particulate Materials quenched-in nuclei in glasses using differential thermal conference held in Vancouver, Canada, June 20–24, 1999, three analysis. This new method is about 10 times faster and presentations based on results obtained from the Gravitational requires only one-tenth the sample size while yielding Effects on Distortion in Sintering experiment were given by a comparable accuracy, allowing otherwise unusable, dam- Pennsylvania State University research team led by Randall aged samples to be successfully analyzed. German. Although focusing on different material systems, all • Richard Weber, of Containerless Research, Inc., reported three presentations concerned the role of porosity while sintering several significant accomplishments in FY 1999, including in the presence of a liquid phase. the discovery of a method for controlling phase separation in The Society for Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers’ rare earth aluminate glasses, measuring the first X-ray-weighted International Symposium on Optical Science and structure factor and radial distribution function for a deeply Instrumentation took place in Denver, Colorado, July 18–23, 41 1999. The meeting featured a three-day conference on materials Distinguished Scientist/Engineer for his outstanding scientific research in low gravity, chaired by Narayanan Ramachandran, of and technical contributions in the solidification and processing of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). The confer- composites, leadership in materials science and engineering edu- ence emphasized the use of external fields in materials processing. cation activities, and service to TMS. Abbaschian was also the Separate sessions were devoted to glasses, alloys, and melts; in-situ recipient of the 1999 Leadership Award for outstanding academic monitoring and diagnostics; and analysis and modeling. leadership and contributions to the materials profession through Doru Stefanescu, of the University of Alabama, was the ple- TMS-sponsored and national activities. nary speaker at the Fourth Pacific Rim International Conference TMS’ Educator Award for 1999 was awarded to Merton on Modeling of Casting and Solidification, held in Seoul, South Flemings, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Flemings Korea, September 4–8, 1999. Stephanescu’s talk was titled “An was cited for outstanding contributions to the unification of the Interface Tracking Numerical Model for Solidification of Pure fields of materials science and engineering and for disseminating Metals and Alloys,” and was co-authored by Adrian Catalina, of information on the contributions of leaders in materials processing USRA. In this paper, the investigators proposed a two-dimensional and solidification. numerical model able to accurately track sharp solid/liquid interfaces during the solidification of pure metals and alloys. Two principal investigators from the materials science program Flight Experiments were installed as Fellows of the American Society for Metals (ASM) The Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures-2 (CSLM-2) at its annual meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, November 1, 1999. investigation is designed to investigate the factors controlling the Arun Gokhale, of the Georgia Institute of Technology, was rec- morphology of solid-liquid mixtures during Ostwald ripening, or ognized “for outstanding contributions to the field of stereology and coarsening. Coarsening occurs in a wide variety of two-phase its applications to quantitative microstructural characterization.” Jogender Singh, head of the Electron Beam–Physical Vapor mixtures, ranging from multiphase solids to multiphase liquids, Deposition Coating Center at Pennsylvania State University, was and has a significant impact on the high-temperature stability of honored “for exceptional contributions in the applications of laser many technologically important materials. The objectives of the beam processing to the synthesis of nanoparticles, coatings, surface experiment are (1) to produce coarsening data that for the first modifications, thin welds, welding, and cutting.” time can be compared directly to theory with no adjustable parameters, and (2) to support the development and accuracy of Randall German received numerous awards, including the theoretical models of the process. This investigation, which will 1999 Outstanding Paper Award by the Metal Powder Industries fly aboard the ISS in 2001, is a modified reflight of the CSLM Federation; the Sauver Award by ASM International, Boston Section; and the Lectureship Award by the Japan Institute for experiment, which flew on STS-83 and STS-94 in April and July Materials Technology. German gave an invited keynote presenta- 1997, respectively. In particular, experiments with longer coarsening tion on “Innovations in Sintering” at the National Institute for times will be carried out to eliminate possible transient effects. An Standards and Technology’s Advanced Technology Program in improved furnace will provide minimal gradients (less than 0.02° November 1999 and was named the first Nanyang Professor by C/cm) in order to control grain formation over longer processing the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. German periods necessary for correlation theory. The experiment will be was also awarded the Jubilee Tesla Medal for outstanding contri- carried out in the ISS Microgravity Science Glovebox. The PI, bution to the field of natural science. Peter Voorhees, of Northwestern University, has tested the new The 1999 Space Technology and Applications International furnace and has found it greatly improved over the previous Forum was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in October. design. The PI and engineering team are preparing to conduct Sharon Cobb, of MSFC, presented a paper titled “Preliminary an investigation continuation review, after which an authority- Concepts for the Materials Science Research Facility.” The mate- to-proceed review will be scheduled. rials science session included presentations on planned payloads The Coupled Growth in Hypermonotectics (CGH) experi- and experiments for the ISS, as well as updates on the predicted ment uses microgravity to establish and improve quantitative and microgravity environment and the Active Rack Isolation System. predictive relationships among the structure, processing, and Rohit Trevidi, of Iowa State University, who is the principal properties of materials. Engineering alloys typically consist of a investigator (PI) for the Interface Pattern Selection Criteria for mixture of two or more metals that are melted together to form a Cellular Structures in Directional Solidification project, was mixture with enhanced properties. However, there is a large honored with the David R. Boylan Eminent Faculty Award for group of alloys that do not mix when melted. Instead, these Research, given by the College of Engineering at Iowa State immiscible, or hypermonotectic, alloys form two separate liquids, University. Trevidi was also named Consultant Professor by resulting in a situation similar to that seen when oil is added to Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xian, China. water. When hypermonotectic alloys are melted and solidified on TMS presented several awards to researchers active in the Earth, the heavier of the two liquids sinks to the bottom and limits materials science research program. Reza Abbaschian, of the the usefulness of the alloy. Low-gravity conditions can prevent University of Florida, was cited as the Structural Materials Division the heavier liquid from sinking and allow the formation of internal 2 microstructures ideal for many engineering applications. The understanding the physics of the problem due to convection and CGH project uses low-gravity conditions to enhance our under- sedimentation occurring in the liquid metal under terrestrial standing of these intriguing and potentially beneficial alloys in an gravity. Metal matrix composites, which consist of combinations attempt to improve the ability to produce the desired structures of metallic and ceramic components, have widespread applications on Earth. Immiscible alloys have potential beneficial characteristics in the automotive and aerospace industries. To optimize properties, for use in superconductors, catalysts, bearings, electrical contacts, it is essential to process the composite materials in such a way magnetic materials, and microelectronic circuits. Barry Andrews, that they produce a uniform dispersion of ceramic particles of the University of Alabama, Birmingham, and his team are within the metal matrix. During processing, the particles are preparing CGH for operations aboard the ISS in 2003. This either pushed or engulfed. New understanding will also help in experiment is projected for processing in the Quench and High- other fields that see particles pushed by solidifying interfaces. Gradient Directional Solidification Furnace module insert of the The investigation team, led by Doru Stefanescu, is preparing to Materials Science Research Facility. conduct flight investigations on the ISS in 2003. Findings from The primary objective of the Particle Engulfment and this investigation may improve techniques for processing metal Pushing by a Solid/Liquid Interface (PEP) experiment is to alloys on Earth, resulting in stronger, lighter materials for use in develop the understanding of the pushing and engulfment of industry. PEP may also provide an understanding of how and particles by planar liquid/solid interfaces during the solidification why potholes form on road surfaces and how to prevent them. of metallic alloys. Composite materials, mixtures of two or more The FY 1999 ground and flight tasks for materials science materials which, when combined, provide specific, desired are listed in Table 9. Further details regarding these tasks may properties, are developed to make new, superior materials that be found in the complementary document Microgravity Research take advantage of the properties of each component material. Division Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1999, available Ground-based investigations have been inconclusive in accurately online at http://microgravity.hq.nasa.gov/research.htm.

Table 9 Materials Science Tasks Funded by the Microgravity Research Division in FY 1999 (includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

Flight Experiments Kinetics of Nucleation and Crystal Growth in Glass-Forming Melts in Microgravity Delbert E. Day In-Situ Monitoring of Crystal Growth Using MEPHISTO University of Missouri; Rolla, MO Reza Abbaschian University of Florida; Gainesville, FL Measurement of the Viscosity and Surface Tension of Undercooled Melts Under Microgravity Conditions and Supporting Magnetohydrodynamic Calculations Coupled Growth in Hypermonotectics Merton C. Flemings J. B. Andrews Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA University of Alabama, Birmingham; Birmingham, AL Microgravity Growth of PbSnTe Fundamental Aspects of Vapor Deposition and Etching Under Diffusion-Controlled Archibald L. Fripp Transport Conditions Langley Research Center; Hampton, VA Klaus J. Bachmann Gravitational Effects on Distortion in Sintering North Carolina State University; Raleigh, NC Randall M. German Self-Diffusion in Liquid Elements Pennsylvania State University; University Park, PA R. M. Banish Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL Martin E. Glicksman Thermophysical Property Measurements of Te-Based II-VI Semiconductor Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Troy, NY Compounds Evolution of Local Microstructures: Spatial Instabilities of Coarsening Clusters R. M. Banish Martin E. Glicksman University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Troy, NY Investigation of the Relationship Between Undercooling and Solidification Velocity Physical Properties and Processing of Undercooled, Metallic, Glass-Forming Melts Robert J. Bayuzick William L. Johnson Vanderbilt University; Nashville, TN California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA Equiaxed Dendritic Solidification Experiment Thermophysical Properties of Metallic Glasses and Undercooled Liquids Christoph Beckermann William L. Johnson University of Iowa; Iowa City, IA California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA 43 Transient Dendritic Solidification Experiment Matthew B. Koss Ground-Based Experiments Rensselaer Polytechic Institute; Troy, NY Microgravity Impregnation of Fiber Preforms Orbital Processing of Eutectic Rod-Like Arrays M. C. Altan David J. Larson Jr. University of Oklahoma; Norman, OK State University of New York; Stony Brook, NY An Electrochemical Method to Visualize Flow and Measure Diffusivity in Liquid Metals Crystal Growth of II-VI Semiconducting Alloys by Directional Solidification Timothy J. Anderson Sandor L. Lehoczky University of Florida; Gainesville, FL Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL The Effect of Convection on Morphological Stability During Coupled Growth in Growth of Solid-Solution, Single Crystals Immiscible Systems Sandor L. Lehoczky J. B. Andrews Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL University of Alabama, Birmingham; Birmingham, AL Diffusion Processes in Molten Semiconductors Nucleation and Growth Mechanisms Underlying the Microstructure of Polymer Foams David H. Matthiesen Produced by Dynamic Decompression and Cooling Case West Reserve University; Cleveland, OH Robert E. Apfel Space- and Ground-Based Crystal Growth Using a Baffle Yale University; New Haven, CT Aleksandar G. Ostrogorsky Growth and Properties of Carbon Nanotubes University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL Jerry Bernholc Comparison of Structure and Segregation in Alloys Directionally Solidified in North Carolina State University; Raleigh, NC Terrestrial and Microgravity Environments Dispersion Microstructure and Rheology in Ceramics Processing David R. Poirier University of Arizona, Tucson; Tucson, AZ John F. Brady California Institute of Technology; Pasadena, CA Frontal Polymerization in Microgravity John A. Pojman Combustion Synthesis of Materials in Microgravity University of Southern Mississippi; Hattiesburg, MS Kenneth Brezinsky University of Illinois; Chicago, IL Particle Engulfment and Pushing by Solidifying Interfaces Doru M. Stefanescu Application of Parallel Computing for Two- and Three-Dimensional Modeling of Bulk University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; Tuscaloosa, AL Crystal Growth and Microstructure Formation Robert A. Brown Crystal Growth of ZnSe and Related Ternary Compound Semiconductors by Vapor Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA Transport Ching-Hua Su Study of Development of Polymer Structure in Microgravity Using Ellipsometry Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL Peggy Cebe Tufts University; Medford, MA Reduction of Defects in Germanium-Silicon Frank R. Szofran Three-Dimensional Velocity Field Characterization in a Bridgman Apparatus: Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL Technique Development and Effect Analysis Soyoung S. Cha Interface Pattern Selection Criterion for Cellular Structures in Direction Solidification University of Illinois; Chicago, IL Rohit K. Trivedi Iowa State University; Ames, IA Morphological Stability of Stepped Interfaces Growing From Solution Alexander A. Chernov Spaceflight Holography Investigation in a Virtual Apparatus James D. Trolinger Universities Space Research Association, Marshall Space Flight MetroLaser, Inc.; Irvine, CA Center; Huntsville, AL Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures-2 Dynamic Reduction and the Creation of Fine-Grained Ceramics From Inviscid Peter W. Voorhees Oxide/Silicate Melts Northwestern University; Evanston, IL Reid F. Cooper University of Wisconsin; Madison, WI Microgravity Studies of Liquid-Liquid Phase Transitions in Undercooled Alumina-Yttria Melts Gravity-Induced Settling in Interconnected Liquid-Solid Systems Richard Weber Thomas H. Courtney Containerless Research, Inc.; Evanston, IL Michigan Technological University; Houghton, MI Identification and Control of Gravity-Related Defect Formation During Melt Growth of Improved Radiation Transport Code and Nuclear Database for Evaluation of Electro-Optic Single Crystals: Sillenites (Bi12SiO20), BSO Spacecraft Shielding August F. Witt Francis A. Cucinotta Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA Johnson Space Center; Houston, TX 4 Fundamental Studies of Solidification in Microgravity Using Real-Time X-Ray Microscopy Solidification of II-VI Compounds in a Rotating Magnetic Field Peter A. Curreri Donald C. Gillies Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL Adaptive-Grid Methods for Phase-Field Models of Microstructure Development Effect of Gravity on the Evolution of Spatial Arrangement of Features in Microstructure: Jonathan A. Dantzig A Quantitative Approach University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL Arun M. Gokhale Georgia Institute of Technology; Atlanta, GA Atomistic Simulations of Cadmium Telluride: Toward Understanding the Benefits of Microgravity Crystal Growth Influence of Solutocapillary Convection on Macrovoid Defect Formation in Polymeric Jeffrey J. Derby Membranes University of Minnesota; Minneapolis, MN Alan R. Greenberg University of Colorado, Boulder; Boulder, CO Theoretical Analysis of Three-Dimensional, Transient Convection and Segregation in Microgravity Bridgman Crystal Growth Novel Directional Solidification Processing of Hypermonotectic Alloys Jeffrey J. Derby Richard N. Grugel University of Minnesota; Minneapolis, MN Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL Surface Transformation of Reactive Glass in a Microgravity Environment Utilizing Controlled Vibrations in a Microgravity Environment to Understand and Paul Ducheyne Promote Microstructural Homogeneity During Floating-Zone Crystal Growth University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA Richard N. Grugel Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL White Beam X-Ray Topography and High-Resolution Triple Axis X-Ray Diffraction Characterization Interdiffusion in the Presence of Free Convection Michael Dudley Prabhat K. Gupta State University of New York; Stony Brook, NY Ohio State University; Columbus, OH Reverse Micelle-Based Synthesis of Microporous Materials in Microgravity Metal Nanoshell Functionalization and Materials Assembly: Effects of Microgravity Prabir K. Dutta Conditions Ohio State University; Columbus, OH Naomi J. Halas Rice University; Houston, TX Gas Phase Polymerization and Nucleation Experiments in Microgravity M. S. El-Shall Radiation-Transmission Properties of In-Situ Materials Virginia Commonwealth University; Richmond, VA Lawrence H. Heilbronn Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Berkeley, CA Studies on Nucleation, Polymerization, and Nanoparticle Composites in Supersaturated Vapors Under Microgravity Conditions Microgravity Processing of Oxide Superconductors M. S. El-Shall William H. Hofmeister Virginia Commonwealth University; Richmond, VA Vanderbilt University; Nashville, TN Exploiting the Temperature Dependence of Magnetic Susceptibility to Control Dimensional Stability of Supermatrix Semiconductors Convection in Fundamental Studies of Solidification Phenomena Douglas E. Holmes James W. Evans Electronic Materials Engineering; Camarillo, CA University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley, CA Porosity and Variations in Microgravity Aerogel Nanostructures Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of Vibrational Control of the Bridgman Arlon Hunt Crystal Growth Technique Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Berkeley, CA Alexandre I. Fedoseyev University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL Nonequilibrium Phase Transformations Kenneth A. Jackson Investigation of the Crystal Growth of Dielectric Materials by the Bridgman Technique University of Arizona, Tucson; Tucson, AZ Using Vibrational Control Robert S. Feigelson The Role of Dynamic Nucleation at Moving Boundaries in Phase and Microstructure Stanford University; Stanford, CA Selection Alain S. Karma Development of Anionic Polyelectrolytes for Solid-State Battery Applications Northeastern University; Boston, MA Andrienne C. Friedli Middle Tennessee University; Murfreesboro, TN Determination of Gravity-Related Effects in Crystal Growth From Melts With an Immiscibility Gap Melt Stabilization of PbSnTe in a Magnetic Field Mohammad Kassemi Archibald L. Fripp National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and Langley Research Center; Hampton, VA Combustion; Cleveland, OH 45 Effect of Marangoni Convection Generated by Voids on Segregation During Low-Gravity Investigation of Convective Effects in Crystal Growth by Physical Vapor Transport and Normal-Gravity Solidification Witold Palosz Mohammad Kassemi Universities Space Research Association, Marshall Space Flight National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and Center; Huntsville, AL Combustion; Cleveland, OH Analysis of Containerless Processing and Undercooled Solidification Microstructures Measurement of Liquid-to-Solid Nucleation Rates in Undercooled Metallic Melts John H. Perepezko Joseph L. Katz University of Wisconsin; Madison, WI Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, MD Improved Crystal Quality by Detached Solidification in Microgravity Phase Formation and Stability: Sample Size Effects Liya L. Regel Kenneth F. Kelton Clarkson University; Potsdam, NY Washington University; St. Louis, MO Thermophysical Property Measurement of Molten Semiconductors in Normal-Gravity Physical Simulation of Marangoni Convection in Weld Pools and Reduced-Gravity Conditions Sindo Kou Won-Kyu Rhim University of Wisconsin; Madison, WI Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA Colloidal Stability in Complex Fluids Undercooling Limits and Thermophysical Properties in Glass-Forming Alloys Jennifer A. Lewis Won-Kyu Rhim University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena, CA A Comparative Modeling Study of Magnetic and Electrostatic Levitation in Carbon-Based Reduction of Lunar Regolith Eric E. Rice Microgravity Orbital Technologies Corporation; Madison, WI Ben Q. Li Washington State University; Pullman, WA A Study of the Undercooling Behavior of Immiscible Metal Alloys in the Absence of Crucible-Induced Nucleation Study of Magnetic Damping Effect on Convection and Solidification Under G-Jitter Michael B. Robinson Conditions Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL Ben Q. Li Washington State University; Pullman, WA Determination of the Surface Energy of Liquid Crystals From the Shape Anisotropy of Freely Suspended Droplets Influence of Natural Convection and Thermal Radiation on Multicomponent Transport Charles S. Rosenblatt and Chemistry in MOCVD Reactors Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland, OH Samuel A. Lowry CFD Research Corporation; Huntsville, AL Modeling of Macroscopic/Microscopic Transport and Growth Phenomena in Zeolite Crystal Solutions Under Microgravity Numerical and Laboratory Experiments on the Interactive Dynamics of Convection, Albert Sacco Jr. Flow, and Directional Solidification Northeastern University; Boston, MA Tony Maxworthy University of Southern California; Los Angeles, CA Thermophysical Properties of High-Temperature Liquid Metals and Alloys Robert J. Schaefer A Phase-Field/Fluid Motion Model of Solidification: Investigation of Flow Effects National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD During Directional Solidification and Dendritic Growth Geoffrey B. McFadden Gravitational Effect on the Development of Laser Weld–Pool and Solidification Microstructure National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gaithersburg, MD Jogender Singh Microgravity Investigation on the Formation of Oxides and Adsorbed Oxygen Films in Pennsylvania State University; University Park, PA Solder Jetting Applications Pertinent to the Electronics Manufacturing Industry Flight Experiment to Study Double Diffusive Instabilities in Silver-Doped Lead Constantine M. Megaridis Bromide Crystals University of Illinois; Chicago, IL N. B. Singh Thermodynamic and Spectroscopic Studies of Secondary Nucleation in Microgravity Northrop-Grumman Corporation; Baltimore, MD Allan S. Myerson Kinetics of Nucleation and Growth From Undercooled Melts Polytechnic University; Brooklyn, NY Frans A. Spaepen Reduction of Convection in Closed-Tube Vapor Growth Experiments Harvard University; Cambridge, MA Robert J. Naumann Development of Superior Materials for Layered, Solid Oxide Electrolyzers Based on University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL Mechanical and Thermal Failure Testing and Analysis K. R. Sridhar Gravitational Effects on the Morphology and Kinetics of Photodeposition of University of Arizona, Tucson; Tucson, AZ Polydiacetylene Films From Monomer Solutions Mark S. Paley Magnetic Damping of Solid-Solution Semiconductor Alloys Universities Space Research Association, Marshall Space Flight Frank R. Szofran Center; Huntsville, AL Marshall Space Flight Center; Huntsville, AL 6 The Features of Self-Assembling, Organic Bilayers Important to the Formation of Anisotropic, Inorganic Materials in Microgravity Conditions Daniel R. Talham University of Florida; Gainesville, FL Dynamically Induced Nucleation of Deeply Supercooled Melts and Measurement of Surface Tension and Viscosity Eugene H. Trinh National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Washington, DC Investigate the Influence of Microgravity on Transport Mechanisms in a Virtual Spaceflight Chamber James D. Trolinger MetroLaser Inc.; Irvine, CA Models of Magnetic Damping for Bridgman Semiconductor Crystal Growth in Microgravity John S. Walker University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Urbana, IL Process-Property-Structure Relationships in Complex Oxide Melts Richard Weber Containerless Research Inc.; Evanston, IL Use of Microgravity to Control the Microstructure of Eutectics William R. Wilcox Clarkson University; Potsdam, NY Improved Spacecraft Materials for Radiation Shielding John Wilson Langley Research Center; Hampton, VA Ground-Based Experiments in Support of Microgravity Research Results — Vapor Growth of Organic, Nonlinear Optical Thin Film Maria I. Zugrav University of Alabama, Huntsville; Huntsville, AL

47 4 Acceleration Measurement

Acceleration measurement is the process by which data that sensors, are being recycled for use with the SAMS-II and SAMS describe the quality of a microgravity environment are acquired, for Free Flyers (SAMS-FF) systems. The last spaceflight for a processed, analyzed, and passed on to microgravity principal inves- SAMS unit was the return of unit E from Mir. The last mission of tigators (PIs). Because accelerations (commonly referred to as vibra- a SAMS unit was in August 1999, when unit A flew on the KC-135 tions) cause disturbances such as convection, sedimentation, and parabolic flight aircraft. mixing within microgravity science experiments — effects that SAMS-FF, a new acceleration measurement device, is a compact researchers experimenting in microgravity conditions wish to avoid system consisting of a small triaxial sensor head connected to a — information about accelerations is critical to the interpretation of portable computer. The instrument supports microgravity mea- science experiment results. surements on a variety of space platforms. The flexible modular Experiments are usually conducted in microgravity to avoid design and the integration of commercial, off-the-shelf parts has fluid flow as much as possible; however, accelerations can strongly dramatically reduced the cost and size of the unit and increased influence fluid motion. For example, in materials science experiments, the performance of the system. The hardware can be easily adapted heavier elements such as mercury tend to settle out of solution to the requirements of each individual experiment. Presently the when subjected to steady accelerations. Such settling can also damage system is manifested for flights on the KC-135, sounding rockets, the protein crystals grown in biotechnology experiments. Convection space shuttle, and the ISS. The system is also capable of performing due to low-frequency accelerations tends to cause hot gases in com- ground characterizations of a wide range of environments. bustion experiments to move. In some fluids experiments, fluid The microgravity program also uses an instrument called the movement due to accelerations may mask fluid characteristics, such Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE) to measure very as surface tension, that the experimenter wishes to observe. low–frequency accelerations in support of microgravity research. Mechanical vibrations over a wide range of frequencies may cause The OARE has flown on 10 missions since its first flight on STS-40. drastic temperature changes in low-temperature physics experiments, The Principal Investigator Microgravity Services (PIMS) project where the samples are at temperatures close to absolute zero. works with other Microgravity Research Program participants, such Accurately measuring the microgravity conditions of a microgravity as vibration isolation programs, to lend assistance with data processing, science experiment is crucial. PIs use acceleration data to determine interpretation, and analysis. The information collected and produced the influence of accelerations on their experiments and thus gain a by the acceleration measurement program is made available through more accurate picture of the phenomena under observation. The the PIMS project in mission summary reports, data files on CD- primary objective of the acceleration measurement program is to ROM and on Internet file servers, and specialized analysis reports characterize the reduced-gravity environment of the various exper- for scientists. Some of the highlights of the fiscal year (FY) 1999 iment carriers, such as the space shuttle, Russia’s Space Station Mir, acceleration measurement program are discussed below. sounding rockets, parabolic flight aircraft, and the International Space Station (ISS). The device most frequently used to measure the quality of a microgravity environment on the space shuttle has been the Space Sounding Rockets Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS), which flew on 20 mis- The SAMS-FF team supported the launch of the first Terrier- sions from its first flight on STS-40 in June 1991 until the landing Orion sounding rocket microgravity mission on December 17, of its last flight on STS-87 in December 1997. The seven SAMS 1999. The SAMS-FF system collected microgravity data in support units recorded high-frequency accelerations and have flown in sup- of the University of Maryland Microscale Heaters payload and port of microgravity science experiments in the shuttle middeck, in characterized the environment for future microgravity science the Spacelab module, on the Spacelab Mission Peculiar Experiment experiments. The rocket was launched at Wallops Flight Facility in Support Structure, and in the SPACEHAB module. SAMS units Virginia. This flight served as the initial demonstration of a lower- on the space shuttle have supported experiments from all of the cost sounding rocket for microgravity payloads and was the first of microgravity science disciplines (biotechnology, combustion science, 10 planned flights. The flight offered approximately 3.5 minutes of fluid physics, fundamental physics, and materials science). After high-quality microgravity. This amount of time is adequate for a flying on two shuttle missions, SAMS unit E was installed on Mir number of payloads, including many combustion experiments. in 1994, where it was operated intermittently as required to support Successful operation of the SAMS-FF system was verified in U.S. and Russian microgravity science and mechanical structure real time by the telemetry downlink. The sensor data was also experiments. Having traveled in orbit for three years and 10 recorded onboard the sounding rocket by the Control and Data months (approximately 532 million miles), the unit was returned to Acquisition Unit, which controlled the operation of the SAMS-FF Earth on STS-91 in June 1998. The unit, along with its data disks, system. The system passed postmission testing and calibration and crew log books, summary reports, photographs, and drawings, was was placed in storage for the next flight opportunity. The data were donated to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, analyzed and are presently available to interested parties. The data D.C. Originally designed for 14-day shuttle flights, the success of indicated that this sounding rocket platform offers high-quality the unit for nearly four years of on-orbit operations amazed its microgravity for payloads requiring a very low–acceleration envi- engineers. The seven SAMS units have been retired from active use ronment. on shuttle missions, but critical components, such as acceleration 8 KC-135 During FY 1999, several SAMS units provided support for ISS KC-135 flights. SAMS unit A, which has been retired from spaceflight after five successful shuttle missions, was used during Development of SAMS-II, a system for conducting acceleration three weeks of flight for microgravity experiments on NASA’s measurements on the ISS, continued this year and moved into the deployment phase. Flight designs and buildup of the Interim newest KC-135 aircraft. SAMS unit A mapped the low-gravity Control Unit (ICU) and Remote Triaxial Sensor (RTS) drawers environment of the parabolic flight aircraft and provided pay- were completed. The flight ICU and RTS drawers are undergoing load-specific support on the KC-135 aircraft. Presently, software verification testing and will be completed in early 2000. Operational is being developed by the SAMS-FF project to rate each parabola activities continued for interfacing SAMS-II with the ISS. Plans in the KC-135’s flight path in terms of quality and duration. for acceleration data handling were developed by the PIMS project Immediately after the flight, the software will produce a concise team and the Telescience Support Center. Successful tests were table summarizing data on each parabola. This information will performed with the SAMS-II and PIMS teams to demonstrate the help experimenters to consider with more efficiency the impact data handling and analysis interfaces. of the microgravity environment on their experiments. SAMS successfully supported the Active Rack Isolation System Initial Capability Experiment on the ISS by supplying SAMS-II engineering hardware. A capability test with the flight USMP–4 hardware is planned for 2000. SAMS has a draft agreement with A mission summary report for the fourth United States the Physics of Colloids in Space experiment to provide a Remote Microgravity Payload (USMP–4) mission, STS-87, was issued by Triaxial Sensor Enclosure. SAMS is also working with the the PIMS team in January 1999. The report describes the micro- Microgravity Science Glovebox and Fluids and Combustion gravity environment for the STS-87 mission, which included a Facility projects to create similar agreements. SPARTAN satellite deployment and various experiments conducted The Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System in the shuttle middeck. The accelerometers for this mission were (MAMS) was instituted to verify that the ISS produces a micro- the SAMS units F and G, and the OARE. gravity environment in accordance with ISS program requirements. MAMS has independent high-frequency and quasi-steady (low- frequency) sensor subsystems. MAMS low-frequency data will be STS-89 used to support microgravity science payloads. In FY 1999, the MAMS flight unit was completed and verification testing was The PIMS mission summary report for STS-89 was released initiated. MAMS flight software interfaces were verified using the in June 1999. This report describes the microgravity environment Suitcase Test Environment for Payloads provided by the ISS pro- for the STS-89 mission, which included nearly five days during gram. Crew activation procedures have been developed, and ground which the space shuttle was docked with the Mir space station. operations planning has been completed. MAMS will be delivered Accelerometers involved with this mission were the SAMS unit to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in FY 2000 for integration into mounted in the SPACEHAB module in the shuttle cargo bay the ISS Expedite Processing of Experiments to Space Station and the SAMS unit on Mir. The SAMS unit in the SPACEHAB (EXPRESS) Rack #1 and launch on ISS assembly flight 6A. module successfully supported the Mechanics of Granular The acceleration measurement discipline scientist served as a Materials experiment during the mission. co-chair for the Microgravity Constraints Tiger Team, which was formed in July 1999 and continues to meet weekly. The team comprises representatives for all ISS payloads, including payloads STS-95 from all of the NASA divisions and those from the international Data from the SAMS-FF operations on STS-95 were analyzed partners. The team worked to develop an acceptable set of accel- to support the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test eration level requirements applicable to all ISS payloads. (HOST) payload and to characterize the acceleration environment for the mission. The STS-95 mission was the first space shuttle mission supported by the SAMS-FF acceleration measurement Meetings and Conferences system. A total of 43 measurement sessions were conducted during The second annual Microgravity Environment Interpretation the HOST mission, corresponding to various operating cycles of Tutorial was presented at Glenn Research Center (GRC) in the HOST cryocooler. The SAMS-FF data were analyzed by September 1998 to a select group of scientists and microgravity PIMS and provided to the HOST team. These data have been personnel. The response from the participants was very positive. invaluable in determining the cryocooler’s potential effect on the Excellent suggestions were also received for the third tutorial, precise alignment capabilities of the Hubble telescope. The data which was conducted in December 1999. Discipline project indicated that vibrations caused by the cryocooler were not a scientists from GRC, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and problem, and the decision was made to install the cryocooler on Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), as well as some PIs and the telescope during the third servicing mission. other Microgravity Research Program (MRP) representatives, 49 participated in the sessions. The tutorials were held over two- The series of talks at the meeting provided a forum for and-a-half days and covered the following topics: definitions and exchanging information and ideas about the microgravity envi- accelerometer instrumentation, data collection and analysis ronment and microgravity acceleration research in the MRP. techniques, the measured environment of microgravity platforms, Investigators in all areas of microgravity research, including PIs, and implications for microgravity experimenters. A 500-page project scientists, numerical modelers, instrumentation developers, reference book was given to each participant. This tutorial will and acceleration data analysts, participated. The attendees included continue in future years to reach MRP PIs through the program’s representatives from NASA headquarters; GRC; JPL; Johnson project scientists. Space Center; KSC; MSFC; the Canadian Space Agency (CSA); Papers titled “Experiment-to-Experiment Disturbance of the French space agency (CNES); the German space agency Microgravity Environment” and “Principal Investigator (DLR); the Japanese space agency (NASDA); universities in Microgravity Services Role in the ISS Acceleration Data Germany, Italy, Russia, and the United States; and commercial Distribution” were presented at the American Institute of companies in Germany, Russia, and the United States. A tour of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ 37th Aerospace Sciences Meeting the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) at KSC was a feature of the meeting. In the near future, participants at this meeting and Exhibit in Reno, Nevada, in January 1999. The acceleration will be characterizing the acceleration environment of the flight measurement discipline scientist coordinated and chaired the hardware seen in the SSPF. “Microgravity Environment” session, which included eight papers on various aspects of the shuttle and Mir microgravity A poster titled “Impacts of the Microgravity Environment environments and the expected environment of the ISS. on Experiments (and Vice Versa), Case Studies from the NASA Coordination of a similar session was completed in preparation STS and Shuttle/Mir Programs” was presented at the Gordon for the 38th meeting, scheduled for January 2000. Research Conference on Gravitational Effects on Physico-Chemical Systems, at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire. The inaugural “Microgravity Environment Familiarization The conference was held June 27–July 2, 1999. Briefing” was presented in April 1999 to the 25 members of the 1998 astronaut class as part of their tour of GRC. This briefing A paper titled “Effects of Exercise Equipment on the introduced class members to the concepts of the microgravity Microgravity Environment” was published in the November 1999 issue of Advances in Space Research. This paper had been environment on the ISS and the effect the crew may have on that presented at the 32nd COSPAR Scientific Assembly, which was environment. Class members got a chance for hands-on demon- held July 12–19, 1998. COSPAR is the Committee on Space strations of functioning SAMS-II and SAMS-FF engineering Research of the International Council of Scientific Unions. hardware. A briefing similar to this will be presented to each astronaut class to familiarize future ISS crew members with the A paper titled “Measurement and Data Distribution for impact of their activities on the microgravity environment in an Microgravity Acceleration on the International Space Station” effort to improve the quality of the environment during micro- was presented at the 50th International Astronautical Congress, gravity science operations. held October 4–8, 1999, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The paper was presented as part of the sessions on microgravity engi- Papers titled “Comparison Tools for Assessing the neering sciences. Microgravity Environment of Orbital Missions, Carriers, and Conditions” and “SAMS-II — Microgravity Instrumentation for the International Space Station Research Community” were presented at the 19th Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE’s) Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference, held May 24–26, 1999, in Venice, Italy. Acceleration measurement discipline personnel served as chairs for two sessions at the conference. Before the IEEE conference, the acceleration measurement discipline scientist presented two seminars at the Microgravity Advanced Research and Support Center of the Universita Degli Studi di Napoli Federico II in Napoli, Italy. The 18th Microgravity Measurements Group meeting was conducted in June 1999 in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Approximately 40 attendees from various disciplines within the international microgravity community heard talks on a variety of microgravity environment topics, including the ISS, acceleration measurement and analysis results, science effects from microgravity accelerations, vibration isolation, free-flyer satellites, and parabolic flight aircraft. A 540-page summary of the meeting presentations was prepared and mailed to all participants after the meeting. 0 Technology 5

Advanced Technology Development Program instrumentation and data recording methods, acceleration characterization and control techniques, and advanced methodologies The Advanced Technology Development (ATD) Program associated with hardware design technology. was developed in response to the challenges researchers face when defining microgravity experiment requirements and In FY 1999, five NASA centers were involved in the designing associated hardware. Technology development projects Microgravity Research Program–sponsored ATD Program: addressed both focused and broad-based scientific concerns. Glenn Research Center (GRC), Goddard Space Flight Center Focused development projects ensured the availability of tech- (GSFC), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Johnson Space nologies to satisfy the science requirements of specific microgravity Center (JSC), and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The flight- or ground-based programs. Broad-based development FY 1999 projects, listed in Table 10, illustrate the breadth of projects encompassed a long-term, proactive approach to meeting technologies covered by the ATD Program. the needs of future projects and missions within the Human Exploration and Development of Space Enterprise. In fiscal year (FY) 1999, the ATD Program was canceled due to budgetary constraints; however, ATD projects already in progress were per- mitted to continue until their originally scheduled completion dates. A plan for the Microgravity Integrated Technology Program, leveraging other NASA and non-NASA technology programs, is under development. Historically, ATD projects have encompassed a broad range of activities. Funded projects included the development of diagnostic instrumentation and measurement techniques, observational

Table 10 FY 1999 ATD Projects

Magnetostrictive Cryogenic Actuators bioreactor vessel. This technology will enable the removal of Jennifer Dooley, JPL ubiquitous air bubbles formed in the culture fluid during on-orbit operation, without degrading the delicate three-dimensional The objective of this ATD project is to use the unique “giant” tissue assemblies. magnetostrictive properties of terbium-dysprosium polycrystalline alloys as the prime mover in a series of actuators and mechanisms Space Bioreactor Bioproduct Recovery System that include low-temperature valves, heat switches, precision Steve Gonda, JSC positioners, and lead screwdrivers. These materials and a family of devices are being developed for low-temperature use based The purpose of this ATD effort is to develop a Bioproduct on their unique properties of long stroke and high power with Recovery System (BRS) that allows the selective removal of negligible energy dissipation. This work is centered at JPL and molecules of interest from space bioreactors, thus enhancing the the California Institute of Technology in collaboration with productivity of those bioreactors. The BRS will be miniaturized researchers at GSFC, the American Superconducting to meet volume and power constraints, and will be designed to Corporation, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center. The success operate in microgravity. of this work has been demonstrated through two U.S. patent applications filed by the investigators and JPL for the production Space Bioreactor Media Reclamation System of the magnetostrictive polycrystalline terbium-dysprosium Steve Gonda, JSC materials by deformation processes and the use of these materials The overall goal of this project is to develop a media reclamation in several cryogenic devices. Eleven New Technology Awards system (MRS) that will enhance and extend the utility of space have been issued for this work. A recent development in this bioreactors for long-duration, on-orbit operation while concom- work is the possibility of using magnetostrictive polycrystalline mitantly reducing on-orbit resources. The MRS will integrate materials in passive cryogenic dampers. A primary focus of the online into the space bioreactor perfusion loop and provide con- continued efforts will be on damping vibrations in low-temperature tinuous real-time conditioning and revitalization of culture space structures such as telescopes and large antennas. medium by supplementing specific media components and removing specific toxic molecules. Hydrofocusing Bioreactor Steve Gonda, JSC Advanced Diagnostics for Combustion The goal of this project is to develop a space bioreactor that pro- Paul Greenberg, GRC vides the capability to maintain a low-shear culture environment The goal of this ATD project is to develop a series of more on-orbit while simultaneously removing air bubbles from the sophisticated measurement techniques applicable to the general 51 area of microgravity combustion science in order to improve the measurements, topography, reciprocal space mapping, and direct accuracy and spatial/temporal yield of the data acquired and to three-dimensional reciprocal lattice point measurements. The extend the range of applicability and access to the relevant para- results can then be used to quantitatively examine the effects of meters presently inaccessible through current methods. microgravity and different growth regimes on protein crystal growth. Small High-Resolution Thermometer Inseob Hahn, JPL Application of Superconducting Cavities to Microgravity Research Smaller and lighter high-resolution thermometers (HRTs) have Don Strayer, JPL been developed under this ATD project for lambda point experi- This ATD project has two main objectives: (1) to use modern ments. In the Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics Facility on microwave electronics; high quality factor, low-temperature the International Space Station (ISS), multiple experiments will superconducting cavities; and high-resolution temperature control be performed within the same instrument package to reduce the to develop an ultrastable oscillator system that will provide a average cost per experiment; the new, smaller HRTs will benefit comparison oscillator for the laser-cooled atomic oscillators now these experiments. under development in the Microgravity Research Program; and (2) to develop high-temperature superconductor materials, high Multiple Scattering Concerns in Dynamic Light Scattering quality factor cavities, and electronics that can be integrated with William Meyer, National Center for Microgravity Research on a small cryocooler to provide an easy-to-use materials characteri- Fluids and Combustion (NCMRFC), GRC zation system for use on the ISS. Maryjo Meyer, GRC This ATD project provides a simple and novel optical scheme Transient Torque Viscometer for Viscosity and Electrical Conductivity Measurements that overcomes multiple scattering effects in turbid media. In Ching-Hua Su, MSFC addition, ways to experimentally measure and provide a full Obtaining data on the thermophysical properties of electrically analytical solution for double, triple, and higher-order scattering conducting melts is required for any meaningful investigation are being developed. of metallurgical or semiconductor processing. The principal objective of this ATD project is to develop a novel technique A Robust Magnetic Resonant Imager for Ground- and Flight-Based Measurements that will allow for the simultaneous measurement of the viscosity of Fluid Phenomena and electrical conductivity of electrically conducting melts. An Benjamin Ovryn, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace essential feature of this technique is the utilization of a rotating Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, NCMRFC, GRC magnetic field. One of the primary factors that has limited the use of magnetic resonance imaging for measurement has been the lack of a user- A Pulsed Tunable Laser System for Combustion friendly, versatile, inexpensive nuclear magnetic resonance Randall Vander Wal, NCMRFC, GRC (NMR) machine that could be utilized by members of the scientific Howard Ross, GRC community who have little or no knowledge of NMR. To rectify The objective of this ATD project is to design, construct, and this situation, a user-friendly NMR imager will be developed demonstrate a pulsed solid state laser system in a microgravity under this ATD project for use with myriad projects of relevance environment. High peak intensities and multiple wavelength to NASA’s scientific community. Ultimately, this type of machine generation capabilities, characteristic of pulsed laser light, would should be suitable for use on the ISS. enable fluorescence, incandescence, and scattering measurements in a wide range of combustion processes. Solid-Liquid Interface Characterization Hardware Palmer Peters, MSFC Vibration Isolation and Control System for Small Microgravity Payloads Mark Whorton, MSFC This ATD project focuses on the real-time characterization of temperature distributions within samples during directional This project will deliver an active isolation device to provide a solidification. Present technologies are limited for many applica- quiescent acceleration environment required for investigations to tions, especially those having nonplanar interfaces, by the size of be carried out on the ISS. the thermocouples, when discrete thermocouples are used, and by interpretation of the Seebeck signal. To overcome these limita- A New Ultrahigh-Resolution Near-Field Microscope for Observation of Protein tions, arrays of micron-sized thin film thermocouples, all deposited Crystal Growth simultaneously with uniform properties and protective coatings, William Witherow, MSFC will be developed. The primary objective of this ATD project is to build and test a new optical method for observing protein crystals as they nucleate A Diffractometer for Reciprocal Space Mapping of Macromolecular Crystals and grow. The method is based on a tapered-fiber probe in a Marc Pusey, MSFC near-field scanning optical microscope. The primary objective of this ATD project is to develop technology both instrumentally and theoretically for routine use in macromolecular crystal studies in the research laboratory. This technology will enable the researcher to accurately and repeatably characterize macromolecular crystal quality through X-ray mosaicity 2 Hardware 6

Experiment Hardware Flown on Space Shuttle and Mir Flights The Microgravity Research Program Office has established list are short descriptions of some of the investigations flown on itself as a leader in research with a history of highly successful these missions and of the flight experiment apparatus that sup- flights onboard the space shuttle and Russian Space Station Mir. ported these missions. Table 11 lists these flights in chronological order. Following this

Table 11 Shuttle Missions With Major Microgravity Experiments Onboard, Chronologically by Launch Date

Launch Date Flight Mission Full Name

April 1985 STS-51 SL–3 Spacelab–3 Jan. 1986 STS-61C Materials Science Demonstrations Jan. 1992 STS-41 IML–1 International Microgravity Laboratory–1 June 1992 STS-50 USML–1 United States Microgravity Laboratory–1 Oct. 1992 STS-52 USMP–1 United States Microgravity Payload–1 March 1994 STS-62 USMP–2 United States Microgravity Payload–2 July 1994 STS-65 IML–2 International Microgravity Laboratory–2 June 1995 STS-71 Mir–1 Shuttle/Mir–1 July 1995 STS-70 Shuttle Sept. 1995 STS-69 * Wake Shield Facility, Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN) Oct. 1995 STS-73 USML–2 United States Microgravity Laboratory–2 Nov. 1995 STS-74 Mir–2 Shuttle/Mir–2 Feb. 1996 STS-75 USMP–3 United States Microgravity Payload–3 March 1996 STS-76 Mir–3 Shuttle/Mir–3 June 1996 STS-78 LMS Life and Microgravity Spacelab Sept. 1996 STS-79 Mir–4 Shuttle/Mir–4 Jan. 1997 STS-81 Mir–5 Shuttle/Mir–5 April 1997 STS-83 MSL–1 Microgravity Science Laboratory–1 May 1997 STS-84 Mir–6 Shuttle/Mir–6 July 1997 STS-94 MSL–1R Microgravity Science Laboratory–Reflight Aug. 1997 STS-85 CRISTA–SPAS–2, Japanese Experiment Module Flight Demonstration Sept. 1997 STS-86 Mir–7 Shuttle/Mir–7 Nov. 1997 STS-87 USMP–4 United States Microgravity Payload–4 Jan. 1998 STS-89 Mir–8 Shuttle/Mir–8 March 1998 STS-90 Neurolab Oct. 1998 STS-95 Shuttle

* Middeck and Get Away Special (GAS) microgravity payloads only. GAS payloads also flew on STS-40, STS-41, STS-43, STS-45, STS-47, STS-54, STS-57, STS-60, STS-63, STS-64, STS-66, STS-72, and STS-77. 53 Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace: This Diffusion-Controlled Crystallization Apparatus for Microgravity instrument was a modified Bridgman-Stockbarger furnace for (DCAM): The DCAM hardware, which was designed for long- directional soldification and crystal growth. (USMP–2, USMP–3, duration protein crystal growth, combined liquid-liquid diffusion USMP–4) and dialysis methods to effect protein crystal growth. Each DCAM tray assembly consisted of 27 DCAM experiment chambers con- Biotechnology Refrigerator (BTR): The BTR had a refrigerated taining precipitant solutions and protein sample solutions. volume of 0.57 cubic feet for cold storage of culture medium, (USML–2, five Mir flights) reagents, and specimens in support of biotechnology experiments. The BTR provided a temperature range of 4–12° C. Drop Physics Module: This apparatus was designed to investigate (Shuttle/Mir–6, Shuttle/Mir–7, Neurolab) the surface properties of various suspended liquid drops, to study surface and internal features of drops that are being vibrated and Biotechnology Specimen Temperature Controller (BSTC): BSTC rotated, and to test a new technique for measuring the surface ten- was a thermally controlled, single-locker module designed to incu- sion between two immiscible fluids. (USML–1, USML–2) bate multiple small cell cultures. It had a single chamber capable of maintaining an internal temperature within the range of 36–40° C Enclosed Laminar Flames (ELF): This Middeck Glovebox investi- and the capability of monitoring carbon dioxide concentrations gation was performed to improve the fundamental understanding within the chamber in the range of 0–20 percent. BSTC was able to of the effects of flow environment on flame stability. ELF investigated deliver custom-blended air/carbon dioxide gas mixtures, was pro- the effect of convective flows on the stability of laminar (nonturbu- grammable, and was able to be operated either independently or in lent) jet-diffusion flames in a ducted, co-flow environment. conjunction with facility computers. (Shuttle/Mir–6, Neurolab) (USMP–4) Biotechnology System: This instrument was composed of a rotating Engineering Development Unit (EDU): The EDU was a rotation wall vessel bioreactor, a control computer, a fluid supply system, a cylinder bioreactor supported by subsystems that provided media gas supply system, and a refrigerator for sample storage. (Mir) perfusion and exchange; continuous measurement and control of nutrient media, pH, glucose, oxygen, and carbon dioxide; incubator Combustion Module-1: This module was developed to perform temperature control; and data storage. It was useful for the investi- multiple combustion experiments in orbit. The first two experi- gation of cell science and tissue engineering. ments were the Laminar Soot Processes experiment and the (STS-70, Shuttle/Mir–4, STS-85, Shuttle/Mir–8) Structure of Flame Balls at Low Lewis Number experiment. (MSL–1, MSL–1R) Experiment Control Computer (ECC): The ECC was designed to provide the computer control resources required for automated, Comparative Soot Diagnostics: This Middeck Glovebox investiga- long-duration cell science and tissue engineering investigations on tion studied the combustion intermediates and products from an orbit. The ECC provided interfaces for communication and control assortment of materials as measured by the space shuttle fire-detec- of experiment equipment, execution of experiment protocol, and tion system and the proposed International Space Station fire-detec- recording and archiving of experiment data and equipment perfor- tion system. Results of this work will be used in the design and mance data. (STS-70, STS-85, Shuttle/Mir–7) operation of future spacecraft smoke-detection systems. (USMP–3) Forced Flow Flame Spreading Test: This Middeck Glovebox inves- Confined Helium Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus provided tigation studied the effects of low airspeed and bulk fuel temperature a thermometer resolution better than 100 picodegrees in measuring on flammability, ignition, flame growth, and flame spreading properties of helium samples confined to a two-dimensional state. It behavior on solid fuels in a microgravity environment. (USMP–3) flew in the Low-Temperature Platform, where it was used to test finite size effects under controlled conditions to uncover underlying Gas Supply Module (GSM): The GSM delivered research-grade fundamental principles. (USMP–4) gases to the bioreactor and the ECC. This hardware housed and Critical Fluid Light Scattering Experiment Apparatus: This appa- provided air, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and other gases at required ratus provided a microkelvin-controlled thermal environment for concentrations and pressures for long-duration, on-orbit cell culture performing dynamic light scattering and turbidity measurements of and tissue engineering investigations. room-temperature critical fluids. (USMP–2, USMP–3) (Shuttle/Mir–4, Shuttle/Mir–8) Critical Viscosity of Xenon Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus Gaseous Nitrogen (GN2) Dewar Protein Crystal Growth provided a precision-controlled thermal environment (microkelvin) Experiment Apparatus: The GN2 dewar was a device capable of maintaining samples at cryogenic temperatures for about 13 days. and an oscillating screen viscometer to perform viscosity measure- Frozen liquid-liquid diffusion and batch protein crystal growth ments of room-temperature critical fluids. (STS-85) experiments were launched in the GN2 dewar and then allowed to Crystal Growth Furnace: This instrument was a modified thaw to initiate the crystallization process in a microgravity environ-

Bridgman-Stockbarger furnace for crystal growth from a melt or ment. The GN2 dewar housed a protein crystal growth insert that vapor. (USML–1, USML–2) typically held approximately 200 protein samples. (Mir) 4 Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell: This instrument used electrostatic Particle Engulfment and Pushing by a Solid-Liquid Interface: forces to simulate gravity in a radially symmetric vector field, cen- This Middeck Glovebox investigation studied the solid-liquid trally directed toward the center of the cell. This allowed investi- (freezing) interface as it moved, either pushing ahead of or engulfing gations to perform visualizations of thermal convection and other suspended particles into a solid material. (USMP–4) research-related topics in planetary atmospheres and stars. Physics of Hard Spheres Experiment Apparatus: This hardware (Spacelab–3, USML–2) supported an investigation to study the processes associated with Interferometer for Protein Crystal Growth (IPCG): The IPCG liquid-to-solid and crystalline-to-glassy phase transitions. (MSL–1) was an apparatus designed to operate in the Microgravity Pool Boiling Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus was capable Glovebox to measure details of how protein molecules move of autonomous operation for initiating, observing, and recording through a fluid and then form crystals. The IPCG comprised nucleate pool boiling phenomena. (Multiple missions) three major systems designed to produce images showing density changes in a fluid as a crystal forms: an interferometer, six fluid Protein Crystallization Apparatus for Microgravity (PCAM): assemblies, and a data system. (Shuttle/Mir–7) PCAM was used to evaluate the effects of gravity on vapor-diffusion protein crystal growth and to produce improved protein crystals Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment Apparatus: This appa- in microgravity for the determination of molecular structures. ratus was used to study the growth of dendritic crystals in trans- Each PCAM cylinder contained nine crystallization trays, each parent materials that simulate the solidification of some aspects of with seven sample chambers, for a total of 63 chambers per cylinder. pure metals and metal alloy systems. The total number of samples that could be flown in a Single- (USMP–2, USMP–3, USMP–4) Locker Thermal Enclosure System (STES) unit was 378. Lambda Point Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus provided (Seven shuttle flights) temperature control in the part-per-billion range of a bulk helium Radiative Ignition and Transition to Spread Investigation: This sample near the superfluid transition at 2 K for testing the theory Middeck Glovebox investigation studied the processes involved in of critical phenomena under well-controlled static conditions. It the transition to fire growth with a particular kind of ignition flew in the Low-Temperature Platform. (USMP–1) source — radiative heating. The microgravity flame behavior was compared with predictions from three-dimensional numerical Mechanics of Granular Materials Experiment Apparatus: This computations. (USMP–3) instrument used microgravity to gain a quantitative understanding of the mechanical behavior of cohesionless granular materials Second-Generation Vapor-Diffusion Apparatus (VDA-2): The under very low confining pressures. VDA-2 trays were protein crystal growth devices based on a (Shuttle/Mir–4, Shuttle/Mir–8) syringe assembly design to provide mixing of protein and precipitant solutions in microgravity. A mixing chamber (third barrel) Microencapsulation Electrostatic Processing System: This was an was added to the original double-barreled VDA syringes to automated system that formed multilayered, liquid-filled micro- improve mixing during activation of vapor-diffusion protein crystal capsules containing pharmaceuticals. The unit automatically con- growth flight experiments. An STES held four VDA-2 trays. trolled fluid flows, recorded video of fluid interfaces as the Each VDA-2 tray had 20 sample chambers, for a total of 80 samples microcapsules were formed, harvested the capsules, and used elec- per STES. (Five shuttle flights) trostatic deposition to apply a thin coating of an ancillary polymer. The system was also used for select fluid physics experiments. Single-Locker Thermal Enclosure System: The STES replaced a (STS-95) single middeck locker and provided a controlled temperature environment within ±0.5° C of a set point in the range of 4–40° C. The Microgravity Glovebox: This was a modified Middeck Glovebox STES housed a variety of protein crystal growth experiment appa- designed for Mir that enabled the collection of scientific and tech- ratus, including DCAM, PCAM, and VDA-2. (10 shuttle flights) nological data prior to major investments in the development of more sophisticated scientific instruments. (Mir) Solid Surface Combustion Experiment Apparatus: This instrument was designed to determine the mechanism of gas-phase flame Microgravity Smoldering Combustion Apparatus: This apparatus spread over solid fuel surfaces in the absence of buoyancy-induced was used to determine the smoldering characteristics of com- or externally imposed gas-phase flow. (Multiple missions) bustible materials in microgravity environments. (STS-69) Space Acceleration Measurement System: This instrument measured Middeck Glovebox: This apparatus was a multidisciplinary facility and recorded the acceleration environment in the space shuttle used for small scientific and technological investigations. middeck and cargo bay, in the Spacelab, in SPACEHAB, and on (USMP–3, USMP–4, STS-95) Mir. (Multiple missions) Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment Apparatus: This Surface Tension–Driven Convection Experiment Apparatus: This instrument was developed to measure very low–frequency accel- apparatus was designed to provide fundamental knowledge of erations on orbit such as atmospheric drag and gravity gradient thermocapillary flows and fluid motion generated by surface tension effects. (Multiple missions) and temperature gradients along a free surface. (USML–1, USML–2) 55 Transitional/Turbulent Gas Jet Diffusion Flames Experiment houses a variety of protein crystal growth apparatus including Apparatus: This instrument was used to study the role of large- VDA-2, DCAM, and PCAM. (First flight: 6A) scale flame structures in microgravity transitional gas jet flames. Protein Crystal Growth — Biotechnology Ambient Generic (Get Away Special experiment) (PCG-BAG): This apparatus flies PCAM, DCAM, or VDA-2 Wetting Characteristics of Immiscibles: This Middeck Glovebox hardware as ambient stowage items within a middeck locker or investigation studied the effects when two nonmixing alloys Cargo Transfer Bag. (First flight: 7A) (immiscibles such as oil and water), which had been stirred and Vapor Diffusion Apparatus, Second Generation (VDA-2): frozen in normal gravity, were melted and resolidified in micro- VDA-2 uses the vapor diffusion method (hanging drop technique) gravity. (USMP–4) for protein crystal growth in order to produce large, high-quality crystals of selected proteins. The 20 growth chambers need to be Experiment Hardware Flights to the International activated to start the process and deactivated to stop it. The PCG- Space Station STES holds four trays, the PCG-BAG holds six trays. (First flight: to be determined) Below are two lists of selected payloads for the International Space Station (ISS) and the associated EXPRESS (Expedite Diffusion-Controlled Crystallization Apparatus for Microgravity Processing of Experiments to Space Station) racks and micro- (DCAM): The DCAM system can use the liquid-liquid diffusion gravity facilities in the order of their flight to the station. Early or dialysis method of protein crystal growth to produce high-quality on, microgravity research is limited to EXPRESS payloads and single crystals of selected proteins. Three DCAM trays, each with Microgravity Science Glovebox investigations, as reflected in the 27 chambers, are flown per PCG-STES or PCG-BAG. first list, which includes investigations currently manifested. The (First flight: to be determined) second list comprises payloads in development that are candidates for later flights. Future flights to the ISS with major significance Protein Crystallization Apparatus for Microgravity (PCAM): to microgravity science are listed chronologically by launch date PCAM uses the vapor-diffusion method to produce large, high- in Table 12. quality crystals of selected proteins. Each PCAM is a cylindrical stack of nine trays, each with seven chambers, to provide 63 Protein Crystal Growth — Enhanced Gases Nitrogen Dewar: chambers for protein crystal growth. The PCG-STES holds six This apparatus is a GN2 dewar that can maintain samples at cylinders; the PCG-BAG holds eight. (First flight: to be determined) cryogenic temperature for about 10 days. Frozen liquid-liquid diffusion and batch protein crystal growth experiments are Physics of Colloids in Space (PCS): The PCS experiment hard- launched in a dewar and then allowed to thaw to initiate the ware supports investigations of the physical properties and crystallization process in a microgravity environment. The dewar dynamics of formation of colloidal superlattices and large-scale houses a protein crystal growth insert typically holding approxi- fractal aggregates using laser light scattering. PCS advances mately 200 protein samples. (First flight: 5A; proposed future understanding of fabrication methods for producing new crystalline materials. (First flight: 6A) flight: 2A.2b) Dynamically Controlled Protein Crystal Growth (DCPCG): Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS): The DCPCG apparatus comprises three components: the control MAMS provides quasi–steady state microgravity acceleration lev- locker, the vapor locker, and the temperature locker. The command els at low frequencies (0.01 to 2 Hz) with extreme accuracy. It is locker controls experiment processes in both the temperature and an enhanced version of the Orbital Acceleration Research vapor lockers. It also collects data, performs telemetry functions, Experiment space shuttle system. Using MAMS data, the micro- and is programmable from the ground. The vapor locker holds gravity level at any point in the U.S. Laboratory or on the ISS 40 protein samples; the temperature locker holds 50 protein sam- can be calculated using a transformation matrix and a known ples. (First flight: 7A.1) center of gravity for the station. (First flight: 6A) Lab Support Equipment — Digital Thermometer: This instru- Space Acceleration Measurement System, Second Generation ment is an off-the-shelf digital thermometer that will be used by (SAMS-II): The SAMS-II instrument will be an early addition ISS payloads to measure temperatures by utilizing a variety of to the ISS and will most likely remain onboard for the life of the thermocouple probes. (First flight: 7A.1) station. SAMS-II will measure vibratory accelerations (transients) in support of a variety of microgravity science experiments. It Biotechnology Specimen Temperature Controller (BSTC): This will also characterize the ISS microgravity environment for apparatus will provide a platform for the study of basic cell-to- future payloads. (First flight: 6A) cell interactions in a quiescent cell culture environment and the role of these interactions in the formation of functional cell Protein Crystal Growth — Single Thermal Enclosure System aggregates and tissues. BSTC will operate primarily in the incu- (PCG-STES): The PCG-STES hardware is a single EXPRESS bation mode. The Biotechnology Refrigerator (BTR), locker that provides a controlled temperature environment within Biotechnology Cell Science Stowage (BCSS), and the Gas Supply ± 0.5° C of a set point in the range from 4–40° C. The PCG-STES Module (GSM) support BSTC research. (First flight: 7A.1) 6 Pore Formation and Mobility: This investigation promotes is an automated system that forms multilayered, liquid-filled understanding of detrimental pore formation and mobility during microcapsules containing pharmaceuticals. The unit will auto- controlled directional solidification processing in a microgravity matically control fluid flow, record video of fluid interfaces as the environment. This Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) inves- microcapsules are formed, and harvest the capsules. Electrostatic tigation will utilize a transparent material, succinonitrile, so that deposition is used to apply a thin coating on the microcapsules to direct observation and recording of pore generation and mobility make them less recognizable by immune cells in the blood during controlled solidification can be made. stream. MEPS can also be used for select fluid physics experiments. (First flight: first Utilization Flight (UF-1)) (First flight: UF-1) Glovebox Integrated Microgravity Isolation Technology (g-LIMIT): Payloads that are planned and/or in development that have The g-LIMIT hardware was developed to provide attenuation of not yet been manifested are listed below in alphabetical order. unwanted accelerations within the MSG; to characterize the Colloidal Disorder-Order Transition-2 Apparatus: This hardware glovebox acceleration environment; and to demonstrate high-per- fits in a glovebox and is used to photograph samples of dispersions formance, robust control technology. (First flight: UF-1) of very fine particles as they form various crystalline or gel structures. Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed Ampoules: This investiga- This hardware was flown previously on USML–2 and STS-95. tion will test the performance of an automatically moving baffle Dynamic Studies of Cellular and Dendritic Interface Pattern in microgravity and determine the behavior and possible advan- Formation: This investigation is designed to provide a fundamental tages of liquid encapsulation in microgravity conditions. This scientific understanding of cellular and dendritic microstructure low-cost MSG experiment will resolve several key technological formation under directional solidification conditions. questions and lessen the risk and uncertainties of using a baffle and liquid encapsulation in future major materials science facilities. Glovebox Laser-Cooled Atomic Clock Experiment (GLACE): (First flight: UF-1) The GLACE investigation is designed to develop a laser-cooled cesium atomic space clock using a magneto-optic trap, highly stable Rotating Wall Perfused System (RWPS): The RWPS apparatus lasers, vacuum systems, and a flywheel oscillator. GLACE will will use the microgravity environment to investigate, support, and also measure the interaction properties of cesium at nanokelvin enhance the formation of three-dimensional functional tissue temperatures. equivalents in a continuously perfused environment for tissue engineering and cell culture. RWPS will also be used to study models Laser Microscopy Module (LMM): The capabilities of this complex of cellular systems in order to understand cellular processes and microscope will include video microscopy, white light illumination, investigate cellular adaptation to the space environment. The BTR, image-analyzing interferometry, confocal microscopy, laser BCSS, and GSM will support RWPS research. (First flight: UF-2) tweezers, and spectrophotometry. The first four experiments to Interferometer for Protein Crystal Growth (IPCG): The IPCG is use the LMM will be the Constrained Vapor Bubble experiment, an apparatus designed to operate in the MSG in order to measure the Physics of Hard Spheres-2 experiment, the Physics of details of how protein molecules move through a fluid and then Colloids in Space-2 experiment, and the Low–Volume Fraction form crystals. The IPCG comprises three major systems designed Entropically Driven Colloidal Assembly experiment. to produce images showing density change in fluid as a crystal Observable Protein Crystal Growth Apparatus (OPCGA): The forms: an interferometer, six fluid assemblies, and a data system. OPCGA flight investigation hardware comprises three major (First flight: UF-2) components: the mechanical system, the optical system, and the Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates From video data acquisition and control system. The OPCGA hardware Colloidal Emulsions (InSPACE): InSPACE hardware is being also provides 96 individual experiment cells with the capability to designed to be accommodated by the MSG. Observations of collect optical data on 72 cells. three-dimensional microscopic structures of magnetorheological Primary Atomic Reference Clock in Space (PARCS): The fluids in a pulsed magnetic field will be made. (First flight: UF-2) PARCS investigation will measure various predictions of Coarsening of Solid-Liquid Mixtures-2: This MSG investigation Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, including gravitational is designed to obtain data on steady-state coarsening behavior of frequency shift and the local position invariance on the rate of two-phase mixtures in microgravity. For the first time, coarsening clocks. PARCS will also achieve a realization of the second (the data with no adjustable parameters will be collected and then fundamental unit of time, which is tied to the energy difference directly compared with theory. This will allow a greater under- between two atomic levels in cesium) at an order of magnitude standing of the factors controlling the morphology of solid-liquid better than that achievable on Earth. mixtures during coarsening. (First flight: UF-2) Rubidium Atomic Clock Experiment (RACE): The RACE Microencapsulation Electrostatic Processing System (MEPS): investigation will interrogate rubidium (87Rb) atoms one to two Microencapsulation research in space has developed a new drug orders of magnitude more precisely than Earth-based systems, delivery system consisting of multilayered microcapsules. MEPS achieving frequency uncertainties in the 10-16 to 10-17 range. RACE will 57 improve clock tests of general relativity, advance clock limitation, Facility for the Study of Crystal Growth and of Fluids Near the and distribute accurate time and frequency from the ISS. Critical Point (DECLIC): The DECLIC facility is being developed by the French space agency (CNES) in cooperation with Shear History Extensional Rheology Experiment (SHERE): Glenn Research Center to provide an autonomous or teleoperated SHERE hardware is being designed to be accommodated in the capability at middeck locker–scale to accommodate research on MSG. The experiment will measure the viscoelastic tensile shear high-pressure samples of fluids near the critical point, transparent stresses in monodisperse dilute polymer solutions while they are materials systems during solidification, and other fluids experiments being rapidly stretched. An instrument called the Microfilament that are compatible with available diagnostics. Through coopera- Extensional Rheometer will perform this measurement. tive interagency agreements (negotiated but unsigned at the end The following international payload is planned to be flown of 1999), NASA will provide launch, integration, and resources on the ISS. for DECLIC and will share in the utilization of the facility.

Table 12 ISS Flights With Major Significance to Microgravity Science, Chronologically by Launch Date

Launch Date* Flight Vehicle ISS Flight Milestone Designation

Oct. 2000 S204 2R Soyuz Vehicle: Three-Person Permanent International Human Presence Capability Jan. 2001 STS-98 OV 104 5A U.S. Laboratory Delivery Feb. 2001 STS-102 OV 103 5A.1 U.S. Laboratory Outfitting — Delivery of International Standard Payload Racks April 2001 STS-100 OV 105 6A First Two EXPRESS Racks, Microgravity Capability May 2001 STS-104 OV 104 7A Phase 2 Complete — Delivery of Hyperbaric Airlock June 2001 STS-105 OV 103 7A.1 U.S. Laboratory Outfitting, Two Additional EXPRESS Racks Aug. 2001 STS-106 OV 105 UF-1 Utilization Flight — Continued U.S. Laboratory Outfitting, MSG Rack Jan. 2002 STS-110 OV 105 UF-2 Utilization Flight — Continued U.S. Laboratory Outfitting, Fifth EXPRESS Rack Oct. 2002 STS-118 OV 104 12A.1 Continued U.S. Laboratory Outfitting Sept. 2003 STS-125 OV 103 1J Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Laboratory Delivery Oct. 2003 STS-127 OV 104 UF-3 Utilization Flight — External Payload Pallet Delivery, Combustion Integrated Rack, and First Materials Science Research Rack (MSRR-1) Jan. 2004 STS-128 OV 103 UF-4 Utilization Flight — External Payload and Added External Payload Pallet Delivery Feb. 2004 STS-129 OV 105 2J/A Delivery of the External Facility of the JEM June 2004 STS-132 OV 105 UF-5 Utilization Flight — External Payload Pallet Delivery, Fluids Integrated Rack, X-Ray Crystallography Facility, and Sixth EXPRESS Rack Oct. 2004 STS-135 OV 105 1E European Space Agency (ESA) Laboratory Delivery Jan. 2005 STS-136 OV 103 17A Six-Person Life Support Capability, Seventh EXPRESS Rack March 2005 STS-138 OV 104 19A Transition to Six-Person Crew, Eighth and Final EXPRESS Rack 8 June 2005 STS-140 OV 105 UF-7 Utilization Flight — Centrifuge Accommodations Module Delivery July 2005 STS-141 OV 104 UF-6 Utilization Flight — Laboratory Outfitting Sept. 2005 STS-142 OV 103 16A Delivery of Crew Habitation Module; Seven-Person Permanent Crew Capability; Biotechnology Facility; Fluids and Combustion Facility Shared Accommodations Rack; MSRR-2; MSRR-3 *Dates based on International Space Station Revision E DCN04 Interim Assembly Sequence

Space Station Facilities for Microgravity Research Station (EXPRESS) rack. The EXPRESS rack requires individual payloads to develop additional capabilities and involves science The Microgravity Research Program (MRP) continues to implementation trade-offs. The EXPRESS rack will hold currently develop several multiuser facilities specifically designed for long- existing equipment previously flown on the space shuttle and on duration scientific research aboard the ISS. To obtain an optimal Mir. It will also accommodate the first generation of equipment balance between science capabilities, costs, and risks, facility built specifically to meet space station requirements. The BTF is requirements definitions have been aligned with evolving space targeted to be operational in 2005. station capabilities. In total, the MRP has defined requirements for five multiuser facilities for the ISS: the Biotechnology Facility (BTF), the Fluids and Combustion Facility (FCF), the Low- Temperature Microgravity Physics Facility (LTMPF), the FCF Materials Science Research Facility (MSRF), and the The FCF is a modular, multiuser facility that will be perma- Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG). nently located in the U.S. Laboratory Module of the ISS to accommodate sustained, systematic microgravity experimentation in both the fluid physics and combustion science disciplines. The BTF FCF flight segment consists of three powered racks and up to one rack of on-orbit stowage in the ISS. The powered racks are The BTF, in the planning stages at Johnson Space Center, is called the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR), the Fluids designed to meet the requirements of the science community for Integrated Rack (FIR), and the Shared Accommodations Rack conducting low-gravity, long-duration biotechnology experiments. (SAR). These FCF racks will be incrementally deployed to the The facility is intended to serve the community of biotechnologists ISS, then fully integrated into the FCF system upon the arrival of from academic, governmental, and industrial venues in the pursuit the SAR. The three racks will operate together with payload of basic and applied research. Changing science priorities and ad- experiment equipment, ground-based operations facilities, and vances in technology are easily accommodated by the BTF’s mod- the FCF ground segment to perform at least five fluids physics ular design, allowing experiments in cell culture, tissue engineering, experiments and five combustion science experiments per year and fundamental biotechnology to be supported by this facility. with available FCF and ISS resources. Owing to the modularity, The BTF, which will be operated continuously on the ISS, is capability, and flexibility of the FCF system, experiments from a single-rack facility with several separate experiment modules science disciplines outside of fluids and combustion, as well as that can be integrated and exchanged with each space shuttle commercial and international payloads, can also be supported by flight to the ISS. The facility provides each experiment module the FCF. with power, gases, thermal cooling, computational capability for payload operation and data archiving, and video signal handling The FCF is being developed at Glenn Research Center capabilities. Capable of processing 3,000 to 5,000 specimens a year, (GRC). GRC in-house definition of the FCF concluded in fiscal the BTF will provide sufficient experimental data to meet demands year (FY) 1999, culminating in a successful preliminary design for objective analysis and publication of results in relevant journals. review of the CIR (the first FCF rack that will be deployed to the Careful design of experiments can result in the publication of two ISS) and a baseline of the science requirements envelope document. to five primary articles per year. Validation of BTF concepts and A request for industry proposals was released and proposals were operations were successfully completed onboard Mir using the evaluated by GRC in FY 1999 for the selection of a prime con- Biotechnology System (BTS). The BTS served as an important tractor to develop the FCF and its initial fluids and combustion risk mitigation effort for the BTF, demonstrating the technology payloads for the ISS. This Microgravity Research Development and systems that will support biotechnology investigations for and Operations Contract will also support integration, operations, long-duration operations. and fluids/combustion payload developments after the deployment Biotechnology research during the early phases of the ISS of the FCF to the ISS and during steady-state operations. will be conducted using a modular accommodations rack system Common design of CIR, FIR, and SAR subsystems was known as the Expedite Processing of Experiments to Space enhanced in FY 1999 to improve the performance and 59 cost-effectiveness of the FCF system and to facilitate shared use MSRF of facility capabilities by the fluids and combustion science disci- The MSRF is being developed to provide a flexible, permanent plines. FCF science diagnostics were modularized to permit on-orbit platform in the U.S. Laboratory for conducting experiments in reconfiguration, replacement, and shared use of FCF advanced materials science. The modularity of the MSRF will satisfy the imaging capabilities. These and other innovative solutions imple- requirements of the majority of materials science investigations mented in the FCF design resulted in the nomination of the FCF and will enable the development of experiment modules specifically for NASA’s Continuous Improvement Award in FY 1999. GRC suited for individual classes of materials, thereby avoiding the also received a Federal Laboratories Technology Transfer Award development and deployment of redundant supporting systems. in FY 1999 for successfully transferring to industry the FCF The MSRF will also incorporate technology improvements embedded web software, which was recognized as NASA through phased rack and hardware deployment and will employ Software of the Year in 1998. common designs in the follow-on racks and experiment modules Significant progress was also made in the definition of initial in order to optimize flexibility and accommodation of the various fluids and combustion payloads for the FCF in FY 1999. Payload multidiscipline and materials science themes, along with new ini- developments were redirected toward multiuser apparatus that tiatives in development in the NASA microgravity program. The customize the FCF for experimentation in a given fluids or com- MSRF is being developed to promote international cooperation bustion subdiscipline. This approach lowers the cost of experiments and provide the most cost-effective and productive near-term and and makes more efficient use of ISS resources by facilitating long-range approaches to performing science investigations in the reuse of payload hardware for multiple experiments. A Multiuser microgravity environment on the ISS. Droplet Combustion Apparatus and Light Microscopy Module The modular facility comprises autonomous Materials are currently on parallel development paths with the CIR and Science Research Racks (MSRRs). The initial MSRF concept consists FIR, respectively, to accommodate a number of the initial com- of three MSRRs (MSRR-1, MSRR-2, and MSRR-3), which will bustion and fluids experiments planned for the FCF. be developed for phased deployment beginning on the third Utilization Flight (UF-3). Each MSRR will be composed of either on-orbit replaceable experiment modules; module inserts; investi- LTMPF gation-unique apparatus; and/or multiuser, generic processing The LTMPF project saw a very busy year during which the apparatus. The ISS Active Rack Isolation System will be facility’s requirements definition review (RDR) was completed employed in the MSRRs to reduce the detrimental effects of successfully and the authority to proceed was granted. The sci- vibrations on the station. The MSRRs will support a wide range of materials science themes, allowing the MSRF to support inves- ence requirements envelope document, the preliminary project tigations in basic and applied research in the fields of solidification plan, the project implementation plan, and the functional of metals and alloys, thermophysical properties, polymers, crystal requirements document were all completed as was required to growth of semiconductor materials, and ceramics and glasses, as support the RDR. Trade studies have been ongoing in FY 1999 to well as new multidiscipline initiatives planned by NASA. further define the best facility configuration given cost, mass, and schedule constraints. The first experiment module planned for MSRR-1 is currently The current facility configuration is a single helium dewar being developed collaboratively by NASA and ESA. This module, with one probe insert that can support two or more experiments called the Materials Science Laboratory (MSL), will incorporate during each flight. An engineering model of the probe was devel- several processing devices, or module inserts. This first materials oped and characterized. Shake tests of the probe with flight-like science payload will be integrated into an International Standard components from three candidate experiments have been scheduled Payload Rack, which will initially be shared with a NASA for early next year. Commerical Payload, the Space Experiment Facility (SEF) experiment module. Following completion of its on-orbit A preliminary software requirements document has been research activities, the SEF will be replaced with a follow-on completed and a prime candidate single-board computer and Ethernet interface circuit boards have been selected. These com- materials science experiment module. ponents will be radiation tested early next year. To maximize the NASA is currently developing the Quench Module Insert program-wide benefits, the LTMPF project and the FCF project (QMI) and the Diffusion Module Insert (DMI) for the MSL. The are jointly performing these radiation tests. This joint effort is QMI is a high-temperature Bridgman-type furnace with an resulting in large savings to both projects, greater investment actively cooled cold zone. The QMI is being designed to accom- from vendors supplying the test articles, and potential savings to modate a rapid quenching capability. The DMI is a Bridgman-type many more ISS payload projects in the future. furnace insert designed to accommodate processing temperatures A number of modifications to the ISS manifest in FY 1999 up to 1,600° C. The requirements for this insert include precise have resulted in a proposed launch delay for the first LTMPF control and the ability to operate in a mode with high isothermality. mission from July 2003 to June 2004. ESA is currently developing the Low Gradient Furnace (LGF) 0 and Solidification Quench Furnace (SQF) module inserts. The Ground-Based Microgravity Research Support Facilities LGF is a Bridgman-Stockbarger furnace and is primarily intended In FY 1999, NASA continued to maintain very productive for crystal growth experiments, providing for directional solidifi- ground facilities for reduced-gravity research. These facilities cation processing with precise temperature and translation control. included KC-135 parabolic flight aircraft, a drop tower, the Zero The SQF is being optimized for metallurgical experiments Gravity Facility, a drop tube, and several other facilities. The requiring large thermal gradients and rapid quenching of samples. reduced-gravity facilities at Glenn Research Center (GRC), Both of the ESA module inserts can accommodate processing Johnson Space Center (JSC), and Marshall Space Flight Center temperatures up to 1,600° C. Additional module inserts can be (MSFC) have supported numerous investigations addressing developed and utilized over the lifetime of the MSL. various processes and phenomena in several research disciplines. MSRR-2 and MSRR-3 rack configurations will be consistent A state of apparent weightlessness, also known as microgravity, with ongoing Reference Experiment Studies and Rack can be created in these facilities by executing a freefall or semi- Architectural Studies currently being conducted at Marshall freefall condition where the force of gravity on an object is offset Space Flight Center. These racks will have optimum flexibility by its linear acceleration during a “fall” (a drop in a tower or a for on-orbit maintenance and change-out of key components. parabolic maneuver by an aircraft). Even though ground-based They will be designed to accommodate the cadre of current facilities offer relatively short experiment times of up to 20 seconds, this available test time has been found to be sufficient to advance materials science investigations and future NASA Research the scientific understanding of many phenomena. Also, many Announcement selections through the use of a variety of on-orbit, experiments scheduled to fly on the space shuttle and the replaceable, investigation-unique experiment modules. The racks International Space Station are tested and validated in the will also be capable of accommodating experiment modules ground facilities prior to testing in space. Experimental studies developed by space station international partners in addition to in a low-gravity environment can enable new discoveries and apparatus supporting multidisciplinary research. MSRR-2 will advance the fundamental understanding of science. Many tests support the first of the follow-on experiment modules and will performed in NASA’s ground-based microgravity facilities, par- incorporate new technology and enable automated operations. Its ticularly in the disciplines of combustion science and fluid anticipated launch readiness date is mid-2005. MSRR-3’s antici- physics, have resulted in exciting findings that are documented pated launch readiness date is in late 2007. Several experiment in a large body of literature. modules to accommodate science investigations on MSRR-2 and JSC’s KC-135 is the primary aircraft for reduced-gravity MSRR-3 are currently in concept definition. research. The KC-135 can accommodate several experiments during a single flight. Low-gravity conditions can be obtained for approximately 20 seconds as the aircraft makes a parabolic MSG trajectory. The trajectory begins with a shallow dive to increase The MSG is a multidisciplinary facility for small, low-cost, air speed, followed by a rapid climb at up to a 50- to 55-degree rapid-response scientific and technological investigations in the angle. The low-gravity period begins with the pushover at the areas of biotechnology, combustion science, fluid physics, funda- top of the climb and continues until the pullout is initiated when mental physics, and materials science. It allows preliminary data the aircraft reaches a 40-degree downward angle. During the to be collected and analyzed prior to any major investment in parabola, an altitude change of approximately 6,000 feet is experi- sophisticated scientific and technological instrumentation. enced. More than 50 parabolas can be performed in a single Additionally, its enclosed working volume offers a safe interface flight. In FY 1999, 42 experiments were performed during 2,401 between investigations of potentially hazardous materials and trajectories over 134.2 flight hours. space station crewmembers and the environment of the space The GRC 2.2-Second Drop Tower offers a shorter test time station. NASA’s previous successes with gloveboxes flown on the space shuttle and on Mir provided valuable experience in deter- than the KC-135, but its simple mode of operation and capability mining the requirements for the MSG. of performing several tests per day make it an attractive and highly utilized test facility, particularly for performing evaluation The MSG is being developed through an international and feasibility tests. The drop tower is able to provide gravitational agreement between NASA and the European Space Agency levels that range from 1 percent of Earth’s gravitational acceleration (ESA). In exchange for developing the MSG, the agreement to 0.01 percent. More than 18,995 tests have been performed in the provides ESA with early utilization opportunities in the facility drop tower to date. In FY 1999, as in the past several years, the without any exchange of funds between the two agencies. ESA’s number of drop tests conducted averaged more than 100 per month. prime contractor for the MSG is Astrium. In FY 1999, the MSG project completed its critical design review. The MSG ground Reduced-gravity conditions in the drop towers are created unit was shipped to Marshall Space Flight Center in September by dropping an experiment in an enclosure known as a drag 1999. The MSG flight unit is tentatively scheduled to launch to shield to isolate the test hardware from aerodynamic drag during the ISS in October 2001. a 24-meter freefall in an open environment. Seventeen experiments 61 were supported during the 1,355 drops performed in FY 1999. lower test throughput rate. In FY 1999, five major projects were As in the past, several of these experiments were in support of the supported as 137 test drops were executed. development of research that will be conducted in space. The The Drop Tube Facility, located at MSFC, consists of sections steady utilization of the drop tower is expected to continue, as of a stainless steel pipe with a 26-centimeter diameter vertically many new experiments are in the design and fabrication phases assembled into a tube 105 meters long. With air completely evac- of development for the coming years. uated, the tube can produce freefall times of 4.6 seconds. Vacuum The Zero Gravity Research Facility at GRC, a registered U.S. levels of less than a billionth of an atmosphere are achievable. national landmark, provides a quiescent low-gravity environment The drop tube is especially useful for high-temperature material for a test duration of 5.18 seconds as experiments are dropped in a processing assays and experiments in droplet dynamics and engi- vacuum chamber that goes 132 meters underground. Aerodynamic neering tests, such as the ones designed to yield results for the drag on the freely falling experiment is nearly eliminated by drop- Tethered Satellite Mission. In FY 1999, two experiments were ping in a vacuum. This procedure restricts drop tests to two per supported during 300 drops. day, resulting in fewer projects supported in this facility than in the 2.2-Second Drop Tower. However, the relatively long test time and Table 13 summarizes activities at ground-based microgravity excellent low-gravity conditions more than compensate for the research facilities in FY 1999.

Table 13 Use of Ground-Based Low-Gravity Facilities in FY 1999

KC-135 2.2-Second Zero Gravity Drop Tube Drop Tower Facility Facility

Number of investigations supported 42 17 5 2

Number of drops or trajectories 2,401 1,355 137 300

Number of flight hours 134.2 N/A N/A N/A

2 Outreach and Education 7

Getting the word out about what microgravity researchers The Microgravity Research Program Office’s (MRPO’s) do and why they do it is crucial to maintaining the strength and WWW home page at http://microgravity.msfc.nasa.gov provides relevance of the science program. The Microgravity Research regular updates on microgravity news highlights, information Program’s (MRP’s) outreach efforts are aimed at a broad audience about upcoming conferences, microgravity-related research that includes researchers who have not yet considered the benefits announcements, enhanced links to microgravity research centers, of conducting experiments in microgravity, industrial engineers educational links, and links to the microgravity image archive. and scientists, students in all grade levels, instructors and admin- The newly developed Research Results web site at istrators in a variety of educational settings, and the lay public. http://mgnews.msfc.nasa.gov/site/resindex.html features reviews of Methods for communicating with these groups are also broad. several successful benchmark microgravity flight experiments. A Microgravity researchers and support personnel are involved in a list of important microgravity WWW sites is presented in Table 14. number of outreach activities that include visiting classrooms, The MRP was represented to more than 25,000 attendees at staffing exhibits at national conferences, offering tours and open Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s (RPI’s) Space Week activities in houses at microgravity science facilities, and sponsoring student Troy, New York, April 5–12, 1999. During the week-long cele- researchers at NASA research centers. In addition, print and bration of space, the MRP’s exhibit was on display in the World Wide Web (WWW) publications highlighting specific Rensselaer field house exhibit area. NASA Administrator Daniel research projects allow the MRP to reach a worldwide audience. Goldin was the keynote speaker for the event marking the 175th In fiscal year (FY) 1999, more than 44,700 elementary and anniversary of RPI, NASA’s 40th anniversary, and the 30th secondary school teachers and administrators attended annual anniversary of the Apollo moon landing. Other conferences in FY meetings of the National Science Teachers Association, the 1999 at which exhibits and materials developed by Microgravity National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the International Outreach and Education staff were used include the American Technology Education Association, and the National Association Association for the Advancement of Science conference; the of Biology Teachers, all of which featured booths staffed by MRP National Manufacturer’s Association conference; Georgetown personnel. These major national educator conferences give University’s Lombardi Cancer Center Gala; the American Society NASA the opportunity to demonstrate new ways to teach students for Gravitational and Space Biology meeting; the American about the importance of microgravity research. Microgravity science Public Health Association’s conference; the American Association and mathematics posters, teacher’s guides, mathematics briefs, of Pharmaceutical Scientists conference; the International Space microgravity demonstrator manuals, microgravity mission and Station Utilization conference; the Biophysical Society’s annual science lithographs, and WWW microgravity site sheets were meeting; the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society conference; distributed to teachers at these conferences. the NASA Spacelab Forum; the Materials Research Society conference; the Society for Biomaterials conference; the American In addition to these efforts, several new microgravity education Crystallographic Association conference; the American Society of products were developed and made available to educators in FY Mechanical Engineers conference; and the Experimental Aircraft 1999. Two new NASA educational briefs were developed: Association’s AirVenture ’99 airshow. Microgravity — Fall Into Mathematics and the NASA Protein Crystallography Cookbook. Efforts were increased in FY 1999 to make educators aware of all the microgravity research education products that are available online through MRP WWW pages, Outreach and Education Highlights NASA Spacelink, and the NASA CORE (Central Operation of Microgravity researchers and support personnel contributed Resources for Educators) education distribution system. their time and expertise to a number of successful outreach products and activities in FY 1999, including the following notable projects: The MRP’s quarterly newsletter, Microgravity News, continues to reach thousands of K–12 teachers, curriculum supervisors, Public Outreach science writers, university faculty, graduate students, scientists, principal investigators, and technology developers. Microgravity • NASA bioreactor demonstrations and poster presentations News features articles on experiment results, flight missions, science of biotechnology cell science research were on display at and technology developments, research funding opportunities, Johnson Space Center’s (JSC’s) annual in-house activities. meetings, collaborations, and microgravity science researchers. These activities included the Open House, where the public Distribution for each newsletter has grown to 10,800 copies, an was invited to tour JSC facilities, and Inspection ’99, which increase from the 10,300 copies distributed last year. A rise has was aimed at showcasing technologies for educators and for been seen in the number of individuals requesting to be added to business and industry audiences. JSC also provided exhibits the mailing list via e-mail submission to the address in support of the MRPO and NASA headquarters at the [email protected]. In addition, distribution of National Association of Biology Teachers’ conference, the Microgravity News to public and private associations, corporations, meeting of the American Association for the Advancement laboratories, and educator resource centers continues to grow. of Science, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and The newsletter can also be accessed on the WWW at Astronautics conference. Microgravity program research sci- http://mgnews.msfc.nasa.gov/site/. entists jointly developed presentations for public audiences 63 on space life sciences in cooperation with Ames Research in various areas of science including space and spacecraft. The Center and a network of museums, planetariums, science interview was conducted for the episode titled “Science Live! and technology centers, and academic and commercial organ- on Location at the Johnson Space Center,” which aired izations. The Life Science Museum Partners Network was November 3, 1999. inaugurated and will cooperate with the Star Station One Foundation for similar presentations focused on the Reaching Out to Students and Educators International Space Station (ISS). • Fourteen graduate students were selected to receive support • At the American Association for the Advancement of for research to be performed during the 1999–2000 academic Science meeting in Anaheim, California, demonstrations of year through the Graduate Student Research Program (GSRP). freefall, superconducting levitation, magnetostriction devices, The GSRP is a center-wide activity in which students from a a bioreactor, and atomic clocks highlighted the display repre- national pool of applicants are selected to receive support for senting the Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and ground-based microgravity research. Graduate students also Applications’ (OLMSA’s) plans for scientific investigation on have the opportunity to conduct a portion of their research at the ISS. Posters displayed the broad areas of science inquiry a NASA facility. All selections were based on a competitive being carried out in the OLMSA program. evaluation of academic qualifications, proposed research • Several microgravity scientists from the Jet Propulsion plans, and the student’s projected use of NASA and/or other Laboratory (JPL) participated in the “Physics Is Fun Day” at research facilities. Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. A drop tower • The National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids display provided demonstrations on how fluids, flames, and and Combustion (NCMRFC) has developed a brochure mechanical devices perform differently when placed in announcing up to three graduate assistantships per year that freefall, intriguing the many students who visited the JPL would provide full tuition at Case Western Reserve University display area. (CWRU), a stipend for graduate study in the Department of • On October 10–11, 1998, Lewis Research Center (now Glenn Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and the opportunity Research Center [GRC]) held a public open house with to conduct research with NCMRFC scientists. Students may 48,000 visitors in attendance. The MRP was represented in apply for an assistantship commencing in either the fall or several ways. The Zero Gravity Facility housed a “Mission spring semester. The brochure has been sent to a comprehen- Specialist” activity for children; the Zero Gravity Facility, sive list of engineering deans at universities across the United KC-135 parabolic aircraft, Telescience Support Center, ISS States and to a list of four-year historically black colleges and U.S. Laboratory module mock-up, and ISS Fluids and universities and other minority universities, and has been Combustion Facility racks were each open for tours; and sev- announced to Ohio’s state-funded universities through a eral microgravity-related children’s activities were included cooperative agreement with the Ohio Aerospace Institute. in DiscoveryFEST (Future Engineers and Scientists in Three students are currently being supported at CWRU Training) tents. through this program. • The Microgravity Science Division was well-represented at the • A number of educator workshops were conducted in FY GRC name change ceremony in May 1999. The ceremony 1999. A key feature of many of these workshops was the use brought more than 200 children to the center. During their of the Microgravity Demonstrator, a portable mini drop visit, the children used a variety of tools to investigate bubbles tower, to explain various aspects of microgravity research. and soap films. The record “bubble on the table” had a diameter The demonstrator has become a staple of the outreach program of 27 inches. Microgravity science mission lithographs, activity and continues to be frequently requested by educators. As an sheets, and lists of WWW sites (including bubble-related sites) example of the effectiveness of the Microgravity were distributed to the children, teachers, and parents. Demonstrator as an outreach tool, in December 1998, GRC, in conjunction with NCMRFC, shipped a demonstrator unit • The 1999 JPL Open House drew 55,000 visitors to the labo- to New York for the third annual Garcia Materials Research ratory June 5–6, 1999. Volunteers from the microgravity fun- Science and Engineering Center Open House at Queens damental physics program described the behavior of College. The demonstrator was seen by more than 300 students phenomena in microgravity using a mini drop tower; (mostly in grades 10 and 11) and 20 teachers during the open demonstrated methods used by investigators in the program, house. In addition, the demonstrator was used in several local such as superconductor levitation, and described the process high schools while out on loan. Proving that you’re never too of developing flight apparatus and experiments for investiga- old to learn, GRC also used the Microgravity Demonstrator tions in space. to explain microgravity research to residents of a local nursing • The cellular biotechnology program manager spoke to home. Many high school physics teachers are using the Discovery Channel viewers of the program Science Live! Microgravity Demonstrator manual and videotape to build about some of the research that is being conducted with the their own drop towers. The PDF version of the Microgravity NASA bioreactor. Science Live! highlights new developments Demonstrator manual, available through the NASA 4 Education Program’s Spacelink web page at • A fall 1998 NCMRFC microgravity workshop for 19 middle http://spacelink.nasa.gov, was downloaded by almost 1,000 school science and math teachers from Lakewood, Ohio, led users in FY 1999. to continuing involvement with several teachers. In May • Another key product of the MRP’s K–12 education initiative 1999, an NCMRFC K–12 representative visited Emerson is the Microgravity Teacher’s Guide. This popular NASA edu- Middle School and used the Microgravity Demonstrator and cator’s guide was downloaded from the Spacelink web site other tools to prepare teachers for their upcoming class trip by over 159,000 users in FY 1999. to Cedar Point amusement park. NCMRFC staff then accompanied Emerson students on their field trip to the • Work was begun on a collaborative project between the NASA Microgravity Research Program and the park to test microgravity amusement park physics materials. International Technology Education Association (ITEA) to Lessons learned during the trip and pre-trip activities will be develop a microgravity technology curriculum guide. incorporated into the draft microgravity amusement park Representatives from ITEA and curriculum developers visited science guide. NASA’s MRP field centers to gather ideas for the guide and • On November 21, 1998, 150 seventh- and eighth-grade girls to receive technical input on potential curriculum content. and two teachers in the Stark County “EQUALS” workshop This effort represents NASA’s first cooperative activity with saw demonstrations that helped explain microgravity ITEA and serves as a benchmark for other NASA research. This event was designed to encourage middle Enterprise/ITEA cooperative activities. The curriculum school girls to stick with math and science by showing them guide is scheduled for completion in early FY 2000 and will positive role models. be presented at the ITEA annual conference. • During National Chemistry Week in November 1998, rep- • Biotechnology research scientists volunteered their time to resentatives of the GRC Microgravity Science Division and bring hands-on science activities to seven- to twelve-year-old NCMRFC provided demonstrations to high school students children in JSC’s “Sizzling Summer Camp” pilot program and members of the general public during a special weekend and at the annual “Bring Our Children to Work Day.” event at the Great Lakes Science Center. A variety of Scientists also presented flight experiment photos and video exhibits, including the Microgravity Demonstrator, were to high school students and mentored NASA summer intern located in the atrium area of the science center so that visitors and co-op students. Two other scientists taught organic could participate in the demonstrations without having to chemistry and space cell biology classes at local universities. pay museum admission. A presentation was made in the • A draft plan has been created for leveraging the resources of “Situation Room” about the STS-95 space shuttle mission the Educator Resource Center (ERC) at JPL to train K–5 following its landing earlier that day. teachers in basic physics principles. That focus fills a critical • Forty-five children toured the 2.2 Second Drop Tower during need, as supplements for elementary-level curriculum and the 1999 “Bring Our Children to Work Day” at GRC. The training support in physics and related mathematics are scarce. children saw microgravity demonstrations and actual drops • During the past year, JPL hosted three graduate students in the tower. and 12 undergraduate students pursuing work in fundamental • A workshop to create a program for student involvement in physics. JPL also contributed fundamental physics content to a research flight experiment was conducted in February 1999 two NASA microgravity CD-ROMS. at the University of Alabama, Huntsville. Educators from • Through the California Institute of Technology Precollege across the United States, business representatives, and Science Initiative (CAPSI), an inquiry-based curriculum unit Marshall Space Flight Center representatives were in attend- on matter was developed for eighth-grade students. This ance. As a result of the meeting, science kits for growing the curriculum unit is being tested in classrooms in Pasadena, best possible crystals in space are being developed. Once the California, to refine the subject matter and the teaching pilot program successfully demonstrates feasibility and incor- techniques. JPL is also beginning to work actively with the poration of classroom lessons, it will be expanded to include ERC and its Classroom of the Future. all 50 states and other corporate sponsors. Twelve teacher • Especially popular with younger visitors to JPL in FY 1999 workshops have been conducted to instruct educators on how was a demonstration of a superconducting instrument called to prepare and perform experiments in the classroom. Mr. SQUID, in which a small hidden magnet swinging on a Thirteen student/school visitations were conducted in which string was detected. Students, with the help of Mr. SQUID, students prepared ground samples to be compared with were asked to guess which hand held the magnet. future flight samples. The flight and ground samples will • Student activities at JPL have resulted in numerous useful utilize the same crystallization conditions for a one-to-one instructional devices, including a new stroboscopic apparatus comparison. Workshops were conducted in which high to study drop collisions and a computer-interfaced compound school students were certified to load flight samples using pendulum for demonstrating deterministic chaos and showing the flash-freezing technique of sample preparation. These the sensitivity of pendulum motions to initial conditions. students then prepared 123 flight samples. 65 • In March 1999, a set of seminars was presented to students at Second Drop Tower and Zero Gravity Facility, saw the Andrews High School, a college preparatory school for girls engineering model of the Combustion Integrated Rack, and in Willoughby, Ohio. Two teachers and 40 advanced placement participated in a number of hands-on activities. The teacher physics and chemistry students from Andrews participated focus group developed a plethora of ideas for activities deal- in a tour of GRC. At two of the four stops, the students were ing with how microgravity conditions are created, density given a tour of the Zero Gravity Facility and learned about studies, crystal growth, how candles burn, buoyancy-driven microgravity research while seeing the Microgravity convection, and other related topics. Some of the activities Demonstrator in use. will be incorporated into elementary-level products under • Three great minds of science — Galileo, Newton, and development at NCMRFC. Einstein — are the subjects of a new NASA educational • On September 7, 1999, Kathy Higgins, of the Hudson, brief titled Microgravity: Fall Into Mathematics. This publication, Ohio, school system, joined NCMRFC as the first teacher developed by the NCMRFC K–12 Educational Program, on sabbatical sponsored by the K–12 Educational Program. provides mathematical challenges and has descriptions of Higgins is an elementary school teacher who has taught different types of microgravity research platforms. The brief first, second, and fifth grades. During her tenure at GRC, was developed to coincide with the debut of a new microgravity she will develop an early primary activity guide and help educational exhibit conceived by the NCMRFC and created with educator workshops. by MRPO support personnel. Artwork from the educational brief was used for the first time at the April 1999 National Outreach to the Science Community Council of Teachers of Mathematics convention. The exhibit • Almost 9,000 people visited NASA’s biotechnology program artwork and educational brief text are being modified to fit a exhibit at the following seven conferences in FY 1999: the poster format and will be available in spring 2000 under doc- meeting of the American Association of Pharmaceutical ument number EW-2000-01-001-GRC. Scientists, the American Crystallographic Association meeting, • In summer 1999, the GRC Office of Educational Programs the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular sponsored two NASA education workshops for teachers. Biology meeting, the meeting of the Society for Biomaterials, During each of the two-week-long workshops, 25 teachers the Biophysical Society conference, the INTERPHEX con- were treated to a “Microgravity Day,” which featured a ference, and the meeting of the Protein Society. gravity song, hands-on activities, and tours of facilities. • Cell science research in the NASA bioreactor was presented NCMRFC summer teacher and student interns helped with to officials of the Republic of Costa Rica during their visit to Microgravity Day sessions and an associated egg drop com- JSC. Throughout the year, representatives from Congress petition. During the workshops, several teachers were men- and other visitors to JSC were given laboratory tours, hardware tored by microgravity personnel through day-long demonstrations, and research highlights from both space- and shadowing opportunities and full two-week guidance of ground-based research using the NASA bioreactor. urban school teams. • NCMRFC received 27 applications to its Summer Internship • JPL scientists supported JSC in staffing a NASA outreach Program. Twenty-one applicants were from Ohio, and the booth at the Centennial American Physical Society meeting remainder were from Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, in Atlanta, Georgia. Displays highlighted research planned Puerto Rico, and West Virginia. NCMRFC also received 13 for the ISS. More than 11,000 physicists attended the meeting, teacher applications: two from California, two from Indiana, and those visiting the booth were provided information one from Kansas, seven from Ohio, and one from South about NASA-sponsored research opportunities in all of the Carolina. The teacher applicants indicated their grade levels microgravity disciplines. as follows: five high school teachers, six middle school teachers, • From November 1998 to June 1999, GRC and NCMRFC one elementary school teacher, and one teacher doing post- presented nine talks on fluid physics and transport phenomena graduate work. Selection of two students and one teacher delivered by eminent lecturers from universities across the was completed in April 1999. The two students spent half country. The series was marketed to the microgravity fluid their time working in microgravity laboratories at GRC and physics research community and to area industries through a the other half developing educational material that is available brochure and mailing campaign. A significant accomplishment on the NCMRFC WWW site. of the lecture series was 14.8 percent participation by industry • In July 1999, six teachers from California, Maryland, Ohio, and organizations external to GRC. and South Carolina spent a week at the NCMRFC brain- storming ideas for a new K–4 microgravity activity guide. Industrial Outreach The teachers heard presentations about gravity and microgravity, crystal growth, fluids, combustion science, and • NCMRFC identified and surveyed principal investigators sounding rockets. They participated in a live video tour of within the fluids and combustion research programs regarding the ISS mock-up at JSC, toured and saw drops at the 2.2 current interactions with industry. Within the fluids research 6 program, interactions with 52 companies were identified, AlliedSignal, Inc.; Sandia National Laboratory; Sherwin including five companies represented by current principal Williams Company; Teledyne Continental Motors; and Ford investigators (PIs) or co-investigators. Within the combustion Motor Company. The board is chartered to identify industry research program, interactions with 56 companies were iden- applications where microgravity fluids and combustion tified, including 11 companies represented by current PIs or research is potentially relevant; evaluate current research for co-investigators. The surveys helped identify promising relevance to applications; and provide recommendations to applications areas for the program. enhance the program’s value to industry. • NCMRFC formed an Industry Liaison Board as part of a • Ann Heyward, industrial outreach manager for NCMRFC, major endeavor in its fundamental role of adding value to attended the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ NASA’s Microgravity Research Program in fluids and com- (ASME’s) Fluids Engineering Division Meeting July 19–22, bustion. NCMRFC successfully recruited a 10-member 1999, in San Francisco, California, to participate in the meet- board of key individuals (vice presidents of research and ing’s Industry Exchange Program and the formation of the technology or their equivalents) across a broad spectrum of Coordinating Group for Industrial Technology (CGIT). aerospace and nonaerospace organizations. The board is This group is charged with developing ASME’s Fluids chaired by William Ballhaus Jr., vice president of science and Engineering Division’s Industry Exchange Program for future engineering at Lockheed Martin Corporation. Companies meetings. Participation in the CGIT affords NASA the oppor- represented on the board in FY 1999 were TRW, Inc.; the tunity for additional industry contacts and exposure to indus- Eaton Corporation; the Cleveland Clinic Foundation; GE; trial applications priorities in the fluids engineering arena.

Table 14 Important Microgravity WWW Sites

NASA Home Page Microgravity Combustion and Fluids Database NASA current events and links to NASA Strategic Enterprise sites. Information on microgravity combustion science, fluid physics, http://www.nasa.gov/ and acceleration measurement experiments and publications. Microgravity Research Division Home Page http://microgravity.grc.nasa.gov/fcarchive/index.html NASA headquarters’ Microgravity Research Division and Microgravity International Distributed Experiment Archives (IDEA) Database microgravity sites with links to news, other programs, and Information on microgravity science experiments. NASA Research Announcements. http://mgravity.itsc.uah.edu/microgravity/idea/idea.stm http://microgravity.hq.nasa.gov/ European Space Agency (ESA) Microgravity Database Microgravity Research Program Home Page Information about microgravity research activities with links to Experiment descriptions, results, diagrams, and video sequences. image archives and related science and technology web sites. http://www.esrin.esa.it/htdocs/mgdb/mgdbhome.html http://microgravity.msfc.nasa.gov/ Zero Gravity Research Facility Microgravity News Home Page Description and images of one of the GRC drop towers. Online issues of Microgravity News, a quarterly newsletter about http://zeta.grc.nasa.gov/facility/zero.htm the field of microgravity science. http://mgnews.msfc.nasa.gov/site/newsindex.html NASA Human Spaceflight A comprehensive source for information on NASA’s spaceflight Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Home Page programs that support the Human Exploration and Links to information about MSFC, the International Space Development of Space Enterprise. Station, and research at MSFC’s laboratories. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/index-n.html http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/ Shuttle Flights Glenn Research Center (GRC) Home Page Information on the most recent mission with links to all shuttle Information on GRC and links to descriptions of special facilities, flights to date. such as the Wind Tunnel Complex, the Propulsion System Laboratory, and drop towers. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/index.html http://www.grc.nasa.gov/ International Space Station Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Homepage General and detailed information about the development of the Links to the latest news, status reports, and images from JPL’s International Space Station, including links to recent news, missions, as well as information about the laboratory at JPL. details of assembly, and images. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/index.html 67 Understanding Gravity and Microgravity Physical.Science/Microgravity/Microgravity-Fall.Into. The definition of microgravity and how it is achieved, with links Mathematics/.index.html to microgravity science disciplines. Spacelink: Microgravity Demonstrator http://microgravity.msfc.nasa.gov/wimg.html The Microgravity Demonstrator is a tool designed by NASA NASA Spacelink: A Resource for Educators engineers to demonstrate and teach principles of microgravity NASA education information, materials, and services. science and relationships to science and math. The manual provides http://spacelink.nasa.gov/ instructions for building a microgravity demonstrator and includes classroom activities. Spacelink: Microgravity Teacher’s Guide http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/Curriculum.Support/ Microgravity Teacher’s Guide with physical science activities for Physical.Science/Microgravity/Microgravity.Demonstrator/.index.html grades 6–12. http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/NASA.Educational. Spacelink: Microgravity Video Resource Guide Products/Microgravity/ This video resource guide contains background material and classroom activities dealing with the five scientific disciplines in Spacelink: Mathematics of Microgravity NASA’s microgravity research program. Mathematics of Microgravity Guide identifying the underlying http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/Curriculum. mathematics and physics principles that apply to microgravity. Support/Physical.Science/Microgravity/Microgravity.Video.Resource. http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/Curriculum.Support/ Guide/.index.html Physical.Science/Microgravity/Mathematics.of.Microgravity/.index.html Microgravity Meetings and Symposia Spacelink: Microgravity-Fall Into Mathematics Bulletin board of meetings, conferences, and symposia and a list The great minds of microgravity — Galileo, Newton, and of societies and web sites of interest to the microgravity science Einstein — are the subjects of this NASA Educational Brief. community. http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/Curriculum.Support/ http://zeta.grc.nasa.gov/ugml/ugml.htm

8 For More Information

NASA’s goal is to improve the quality of life on Earth by using ground- and space-based research to promote new scientific and technological discoveries. The Microgravity Research Program plays a vital role in our nation’s economic and general health by carefully selecting, funding, and supporting scientists across the country. It also serves as an important link in the international endeavors that are the hallmark of America’s space pro- Microgravity Research Division gram, which is conducting business better, cheaper, and faster NASA Headquarters through cooperative ventures and other streamlined practices. 300 E Street, S.W. By disseminating knowledge and transferring technology Washington, D.C. 20546-0001 among private industries, universities, and other government agencies, NASA’s Microgravity Research Program continues to build on a foundation of professional success, evidenced by the Fax: (202) 358-3091 number of publications and conferences attended, while reaching Phone: (202) 358-1490 out to encompass the populace at large. Educational outreach and technology transfer are among the program’s top goals, making World Wide Web address: the benefits of NASA’s research available to the American public. http://microgravity.hq.nasa.gov/ Space shuttle and Mir research missions, as well as experiments http://microgravity.msfc.nasa.gov/ performed in short-duration microgravity facilities, are yielding new understanding about our world and the universe around us, while paving the way for long-duration microgravity science on the International Space Station. For more information about NASA’s Microgravity Research Program, use the following contact information: 8 Program Resources for FY 1999 9

Funding for the Microgravity Research Program in fiscal year The Microgravity Research Program operates primarily (FY) 1999 totaled $183.9 million. This figure includes the through four NASA field centers. Figure 3 illustrates the funding Microgravity Research Program budget of $113.7 million and $70.2 distribution among these centers and includes NASA headquarters million of the Office of Space Flight’s budget, which is allocated for funding. The Microgravity Research Program science discipline International Space Station (ISS) utilization and facilities. These authority and major responsibilities are as follows: funds supported a variety of activities across the microgravity sci- • Glenn Research Center — combustion science, fluid physics, ence disciplines of biotechnology, combustion science, fluid physics, and microgravity measurement and analysis. fundamental physics, and materials science, including an extensive • Jet Propulsion Laboratory — fundamental physics and ground-based research and analysis program; development and advanced technology development. flight of microgravity space shuttle and sounding rocket missions; planning and technology and hardware development for the ISS; • Johnson Space Center — cell and tissue culture portion of the and outreach and education. The funding distribution for com- biotechnology discipline. bined flight and ground efforts in the various microgravity research • Marshall Space Flight Center — materials science, molecular disciplines is illustrated in Figure 1. science portion of the biotechnology discipline, and the glovebox program.

Figure 1 — FY 1999 Microgravity Funding Distribution by Science Discipline Figure 3 — FY 1999 Microgravity Funding Distribution by NASA Field Centers

Goddard Space Center < 1% Langley Research Center Headquarters < 1% 3% Biotechnology Materials science 21% Jet Propulsion Laboratory 25% 9%

Fundamental Combustion physics science Glenn Research 13% 18% Center 34% Fluid physics 23% Marshall Space Flight Center 44%

Johnson Space Center Figure 2 presents funding in support of ISS mission planning, 9% development of ISS technology and hardware, development of flight- and ground-based research projects, execution of flight and ground investigations, and development of technology to support those investigations.

Figure 2 — FY 1999 Microgravity Funding by Mission Function Flight research and development (Includes Office of Space Flight funds for ISS 19% utilization & facilities)

ISS utilization Ground research and and facilities development 37% 14%

Ground research investigations 20% Flight research Technology investigations investigations 2% 8%

69 10 Acronyms and Abbreviations

ACA...... American Crystallographic Association ERC ...... Educator Resource Center APS...... American Physical Society ERE ...... Extensional Rheology Experiment ASM ...... American Society for Metals ESA ...... European Space Agency ASME ...... American Society of Mechanical Engineers ESL ...... Electrostatic Levitator ATD ...... Advanced Technology Development EXPRESS ...... Expedite Processing of Experiments to atm...... atmosphere ...... Space Station BCDCE ...... Bi-Component Droplet Combustion Experiment FCF ...... Fluids and Combustion Facility BCSS...... Biotechnology Cell Science Stowage FEANICS...... Flow Enclosure Accommodating Novel BRS ...... Bioproduct Recovery System ...... Investigations in Combustion of Solids BSTC ...... Biotechnology Specimen Temperature Controller FIR...... Fluids Integrated Rack BTF ...... Biotechnology Facility FIST ...... Flammability Diagrams of Combustible BTR ...... Biotechnology Refrigerator ...... Materials in Microgravity BTS ...... Biotechnology System FY ...... fiscal year BUNDLE ...... Bridgman Unidirectional Dendrite in a GAS...... Get Away Special ...... Liquid Experiment GLACE...... Glovebox Laser-Cooled Atomic Clock CAPSI...... Caltech Precollege Science Initiative ...... Experiment CEA ...... Carcinoembryonic antigen g-LIMIT ...... Glovebox Integrated Microgravity Isolation CGH...... Coupled Growth in Hypermonotectics ...... Technology CGIT ...... Coordinating Group for Industrial Technology GMSF ...... Growth and Morphology of Supercritical CHeX ...... Confined Helium Experiment ...... Fluids CIR ...... Combustion Integrated Rack GN2 ...... Gaseous Nitrogen CNES...... French space agency GRC...... Glenn Research Center COLLIDE...... Collisions Into Dust Experiment GSFC...... Goddard Space Flight Center CORE ...... Central Operation of Resources for Educators GSM ...... Gas Supply Module COSPAR ...... Committee on Space Research of the GSRP ...... Graduate Student Research Program ...... International Council of Scientific Unions HOST...... Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test CSA...... Canadian Space Agency HRT ...... high-resolution thermometer CSLM ...... Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures ICR ...... investigation continuation review CVX...... Critical Viscosity of Xenon ICU ...... Interim Control Unit CWRU...... Case Western Reserve University IDEA...... International Distributed Experiment Archives DCAM ...... Diffusion-Controlled Crystallization IEEE ...... Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ...... Apparatus for Microgravity IFFD ...... Internal Flows in a Free Drop DCE ...... Droplet Combustion Experiment IML ...... International Microgravity Laboratory DCPCG ...... Dynamically Controlled Protein Crystal InSPACE ...... Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic ...... Growth ...... Aggregates From Colloidal Emulsions DDCE...... Dynamics of Droplet Combustion and IPCG ...... Interferometer for Protein Crystal Growth ...... Extinction Experiment ISRU ...... In-Situ Resource Utilization DECLIC ...... Facility for the Study of Crystal Growth and ISS ...... International Space Station ...... of Fluids Near the Critical Point ITEA ...... International Technology Education DLR ...... German Aerospace Research Establishment ...... Association DMI...... Diffusion Module Insert JPL ...... Jet Propulsion Laboratory ECC ...... Experiment Control Computer JSC ...... Johnson Space Center EDU ...... Engineering Development Unit KSC...... Kennedy Space Center ELF ...... Enclosed Laminar Flames LGF ...... Low Gradient Furnace 0 LMM ...... Laser Microscopy Module PCS ...... Physics of Colloids in Space LMS...... Life and Microgravity Spacelab PECASE ...... Presidential Early Career Award for LTMPF ...... Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics ...... Scientists and Engineers ...... Facility PEP ...... Particle Engulfment and Pushing by a MAMS...... Microgravity Acceleration Measurement ...... Solid/Liquid Interface ...... System PI...... principal investigator MDCA ...... Multiuser Droplet Combustion Apparatus PIMS ...... Principal Investigator Microgravity Services MEPS ...... Microencapsulation Electrostatic QMI...... Quench Module Insert ...... Processing System RACE...... Rubidium Atomic Clock Experiment MGM...... Mechanics of Granular Materials RDR...... requirements definition review MISTE...... Microgravity Scaling Theory Experiment REEFS ...... Radiative Enhancement Effects on Flame MIT ...... Massachusetts Institute of Technology ...... Spread MRD ...... Microgravity Research Division RPI ...... Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute MRP ...... Microgravity Research Program ...... Remote Triaxial Sensor MRPO ...... Microgravity Research Program Office RTS MRS ...... media reclamation system RWPS ...... Rotating Wall Perfused System MSFC ...... Marshall Space Flight Center SAMS ...... Space Acceleration Measurement System MSG ...... Microgravity Science Glovebox SAMS-FF ...... Space Acceleration Measurement System MSL...... Microgravity Science Laboratory ...... for Free Flyers MSRF ...... Materials Science Research Facility SAR...... Shared Accommodations Rack MSRR ...... Materials Science Research Rack SCR ...... science concept review MTH ...... metallothionein SHERE...... Shear History Extensional Rheology NAE ...... National Academy of Engineering ...... Experiment NASDA ...... Japanese space agency SIBAL ...... Solid Inflammability Boundary at Low Speed NCMRFC...... National Center for Microgravity SL ...... Spacelab ...... Research on Fluids and Combustion SQF...... Solidification Quench Furnace NIH ...... National Institutes of Health SSPF ...... Space Station Processing Facility NRA...... NASA Research Announcement STEP ...... Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle NRC...... National Research Council STES ...... Single-Locker Thermal Enclosure System NIST ...... National Institute of Standards and STS ...... Space Transportation System ...... Technology SUE ...... Superfluid Universality Experiment NMR ...... nuclear magnetic resonance TIGER-3D ...... Transition From Ignition to Flame OARE ...... Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment ...... Growth Under External Radiation in OLMSA...... Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences ...... Three Dimensions ...... and Applications TMS ...... Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society OPCGA ...... Observable Protein Crystal Growth ...... University of Alabama, Birmingham ...... Apparatus UAB PARCS ...... Primary Atomic Reference Clock in Space UCI ...... University of California, Irvine PCAM ...... Protein Crystallization Apparatus for UF ...... Utilization Flight ...... Microgravity USML ...... United States Microgravity Laboratory PCG-BAG...... Protein Crystal Growth — Biotechnology USMP ...... United States Microgravity Payload ...... Ambient Generic USRA ...... Universities Space Research Association PCG-STES ...... Protein Crystal Growth — Single Thermal VDA...... Vapor-Diffusion Apparatus ...... Enclosure System WWW...... World Wide Web 71

In the microgravity environ-

ment of space, the effects

of Earth’s gravity are dra-

matically reduced, allowing

scientists to pursue

research not possible in

ground-based laboratories.

NASA’S MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH PROGRAM

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Microgravity Research Division

NASA/TM – 2000-210615